The period between arrest and conviction is one of the most uncertain and stressful phases of the entire criminal justice experience. Cases can drag on for months or years. Plea negotiations, pretrial hearings, continuances, and evidence reviews all happen while a person sits in county jail or on bail waiting for a resolution. This section covers how the pretrial process works, what the difference is between a felony and a misdemeanor, how plea deals are negotiated and what the risks are, what happens at a preliminary hearing versus a trial, how defense investigators can help build a case, and what families can do to support their loved one through the uncertainty of pending charges. The guidance here is written for families encountering the criminal justice system for the first time who need to understand what is happening without being overwhelmed by legal complexity. See also our sections on Law Questions and Legal Terms, Bail and Bond Questions, and Sentencing Questions.
Subject: Pending criminal charges
The new gun charge alone carries a mandatory minimum of 5 years for felony possession of a firearm. That minimum applies regardless of circumstances, criminal history, or anything a judge might otherwise want to consider. The law requires it.
The prior Class X conviction makes this significantly worse. Class X offenses are serious felonies, and having that history on record affects how the new charge is weighted at sentencing. Depending on the state and the specific firearms statute, a prior violent...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
For a standalone combination of these charges with no injury, no accident, and no prior pattern of reckless behavior, the realistic answer is very little to none. These are typically civil infractions or low-level misdemeanors that result in fines, court costs, and possibly a suspended sentence or probation rather than actual incarceration.
Judges generally do not send people to jail for administrative driving violations when no one was hurt. The goal of the court in these cases is compliance, getting the...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
There is no honest answer to that without knowing a lot more about the specifics, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing.
A 10-year-old simple assault warrant is a misdemeanor, which is on the lower end of the spectrum. That works in your favor. But the outcome of turning yourself in depends on several things that vary case by case: the jurisdiction, the judge, the original circumstances of the assault, whether the victim is still involved or has any interest...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
Contact the Clerk of the County Court where the charges were filed. This is where the attorneys go for the detailed information about their client's charges
Subject: Pending criminal charges
The picture here is serious. Three felony drug charges in six months, all while out on bond, is a pattern that courts and prosecutors view as evidence that neither the charges nor the bond conditions have made any impression. Getting arrested for new charges while already released pending trial on separate charges is one of the worst positions a defendant can be in. Bond revocation on both existing cases is almost certain at this point.
Whether habitual offender statutes apply and...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
this depends if anyone was injured or if there was a loss of property stemming from the charge. Most likely, if you are not a habitual offender, the judge won't send you away.
Subject: Pending criminal charges
Use the Arrest Record link, ...there is a small charge for the data of newly arrested offenders
Subject: Pending criminal charges
Being arrested on new charges while on parole in California puts someone in two separate but simultaneous legal problems, and both of them are serious.
The first is the parole violation itself. Parole is a second chance granted by the same judge who sentenced him the first time. That judge signed off on parole as an option and is now watching it come back as a failure. When a parolee picks up new felony charges, the parole board can revoke parole...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
It is a legitimate defense, but an invitation does not automatically make the charge disappear. Here is how it actually plays out.
Home invasion charges generally require the prosecution to prove unlawful entry, meaning the person entered without permission or exceeded the scope of whatever permission was given. If the accused was genuinely invited in, that cuts directly at one of the core elements of the charge. A defense attorney can and should build around that fact.
But the invitation is only...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
The absence of a testifying victim is significant, but it is not an automatic dismissal and anyone who tells you otherwise is getting ahead of the facts.
Here is what actually matters in this situation.
Prosecutors have tools available that do not require victim cooperation. If law enforcement documented the scene, took photographs, collected medical records, recorded statements at the time of the incident, or gathered witness accounts from neighbors or bystanders, that evidence can be presented without the victim on the...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
If you are looking for the actual criminal case against the inmate, you will have to contact someone at the Clerk of the Court in the county where they caught their charge
Subject: Pending criminal charges
Federal immigration smuggling charges carry serious weight, and a prior criminal history makes the sentencing picture significantly worse.
The baseline for human smuggling convictions in the federal system starts at around five years for a first offense without aggravating factors. That is the range I saw consistently with people I did time with at FCI Miami who were caught bringing immigrants in off the coast. Five years was a common landing point for those cases when the record was relatively clean...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
Federal cases are not as publicly accessible as state court cases, but the information is available if you know where to look.
The starting point is knowing which federal district the case is in. Federal charges are filed in one of 94 federal judicial districts across the country, organized by geography. If your person was arrested in Miami, the case is in the Southern District of Florida. If it was in Chicago, it is in the Northern District of Illinois. Knowing...
Read moreSubject: Pending criminal charges
If you know the county, you can contact the Clerk of the Court and file a request for information. This is where lawyers go to get their information.
Subject: Pending criminal charges
The timing depends on where the case is in the legal process, and there are several distinct phases that each affect where your person is physically housed.
If the federal charge has just been filed and the case has not yet been adjudicated, your person will likely remain at their current facility until the federal court proceedings require their presence. At that point they will be transferred, typically to a county jail in the jurisdiction where the federal indictment was handed...
Read more