What Is a Pretrial Hearing?
Once being arrested and declaring a “not guilty” plea, the next step in your legal journey is to proceed with what is called a pretrial hearing. It is important to understand the value of such a process because more often than not, cases are resolved at these pretrial hearings. In fact, only 5 percent of cases actually go to trial. The rest end in a pretrial settlement.
- What Is a Pretrial Hearing?
- What Happens at a Pretrial Hearing?
- Voluntary and Involuntary Dismissal at the Hearing
- When Is a Case Dismissal Appropriate?
- Top Criminal Defense Lawyers Work to Get Charges Dismissed
What Happens at a Pretrial Hearing?
A pretrial hearing is a session either requested by a party or arranged by the court, during which both parties meet to raise any issues they might have with the case before it goes to trial. For instance, it is during a pretrial hearing that parties may move to either admit or suppress certain pieces of evidence for trial. More commonly, however, a pretrial hearing is where attorneys and a judge decide if a case is even worth a trial.
Your attorney will likely submit a Motion to Dismiss your entire case. They will make arguments regarding how you were treated, how the evidence was handled, and whether the prosecutor can meet their burden of proof that you even committed a crime. The judge will rule on the Motion to Dismiss during the pretrial hearing. If it is granted, you will be free to go. Your charges will be dropped. However, if the Motion to Dismiss is not granted, then you will continue through the legal process towards trial. That doesn’t mean your case cannot be resolved in another manner, though.
There are other options for resolving the case at the pretrial hearing as well. It’s common for the prosecutor to make a plea bargain offer to avoid going to trial. It’s important to work with a criminal defense lawyer who knows how to negotiate with the prosecutor to get you the best plea agreement offer to reduce our charges. Attorney Aaron Spolin of Spolin Law P.C. is a former prosecutor. He knows how they think, and he will use that knowledge to get you the best outcome possible at the pretrial hearing.
- What Is a Pretrial Hearing?
- What Happens at a Pretrial Hearing?
- Voluntary and Involuntary Dismissal at the Hearing
- When Is a Case Dismissal Appropriate?
- Top Criminal Defense Lawyers Work to Get Charges Dismissed
Voluntary and Involuntary Dismissal at the Hearing
A case can certainly be dismissed at a pretrial hearing. In terms of case dismissal, there are two types: voluntary and involuntary.
If a case is voluntarily dismissed, this means that the dismissal was proposed by the prosecuting counsel. This might happen if material evidence is being excluded or suppressed and they no longer have enough evidence to support your charges. Your attorney may file a Motion to Suppress Evidence with this goal in mind.
For involuntary case dismissal, on the other hand, the defense is the party seeking dismissal, which is then granted by a judge acting against the wishes of the prosecution. To dismiss a case involuntarily, the defense will need to file a California Penal Code 995 PC “Motion to Dismiss.” This motion essentially asks the court to “set aside” the criminal complaint filed by the government and dismiss all or part of the charges.
- What Is a Pretrial Hearing?
- What Happens at a Pretrial Hearing?
- Voluntary and Involuntary Dismissal at the Hearing
- When Is a Case Dismissal Appropriate?
- Top Criminal Defense Lawyers Work to Get Charges Dismissed
When Is a Case Dismissal Appropriate?
A dismissal is appropriate if either party believes a charge has been filed unjustly. There are many instances for which this may be the case. Below is a list of possible reasons for dismissal.
1. Lack of Probable Cause for Arrest
Before a police officer can arrest someone, they must have probable cause to do so. If defense counsel is able to prove that the arresting officer had no proper reason to suspect illegal activity or arrest their client, a motion to dismiss might be fitting.
2. Illegal Stop or Search
An individual may move to dismiss a case if they believe they were illegally stopped by a law enforcement officer for a reason other than a suspicion of crime. For instance, being stopped by an officer for purely your race or gender falls under such a category.
3. Failure to Read Miranda Rights
During an arrest, police officers are required to read the offender their Miranda Rights: the right to remain silent, the right to consult with an attorney and be appointed one if you cannot pay, and the right to have an attorney present while being questioned.
If these are not read to the accused, any statements they make to the police are invalid and may put the case as a whole in danger of dismissal.
4. Insufficient Evidence
Before a case can go to trial, the prosecutor must present the evidence they plan to use in trial. The evidence they bring forward must be objective and factual. If the court decides that the evidence is insufficient and is not enough to build a case, the charges can be dismissed and will not go to trial.
5. Unavailable Witness
In some cases, the prosecuting attorney may have difficulty producing witnesses to take the stand. If this happens, the prosecution might not have enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and they may need to dismiss the charges altogether.
- What Is a Pretrial Hearing?
- What Happens at a Pretrial Hearing?
- Voluntary and Involuntary Dismissal at the Hearing
- When Is a Case Dismissal Appropriate?
- Top Criminal Defense Lawyers Work to Get Charges Dismissed
Top Criminal Defense Lawyers Work to Get Charges Dismissed
The award-winning California criminal defense lawyers at Spolin Law P.C. always work hard to get their clients’ charges dismissed. That is one of our primary goals. We do this by:
- Evaluating all the evidence.
- Attacking the prosecutor’s arguments.
- Using the prosecutor’s evidence against their case.
- Filing effective legal motions to dismiss and to suppress evidence.
Attorney Aaron Spolin and his team of legal professionals will do everything possible to get you the best outcome in your case. Call us today at (310) 424-5816.