CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY FORT MYERS | DUI ATTORNEY FORT MYERS
After you are arrested, you have 24-48 hours to appear for first appearance before the judge. At first appearance, that is where the judge determines the bail amount that there is going to be set in your case and also if the police have probable cause to detain you. If the court finds that there was no probable cause, they will release you on your own recognizance. That does not mean that your case is dropped. That means that the court cannot hold you with a bond, they have to release you. The next stage is the arraignment stage where the state files formal charges against you.
After that, the next stage is either the case management or the docket sounding. Essentially at those stages, that is where you go to court where the court determines is the case being moved along, and also we could negotiate a plea agreement, and also exchange discovery to make sure that your rights are being protected, and file any motions on your behalf. After that is the pre-trial stage, and after the pre-trial stage is the trial stage, and if you are convicted in trial, then there is one other final stage and that is the sentencing stage.
