Preparing for the Preliminary Hearing

The preliminary hearing that occurs following your arrest and detention can be an especially confusing time, especially if you are not prepared for what happens when you are arrested. Your Sacramento criminal defense attorney will use the time before your preliminary hearing to do several things to prepare your case, chiefly, developing a theory to use as your defense argument.

At the preliminary hearing, your attorney will question witnesses and try to obtain testimony that will be useful to your defense and laying the groundwork for your theory. Or it might become apparent that your attorney’s strategy is not very plausible and should be revised in favor of another one. You might think your attorney should defend you aggressively and treat every witness as hostile, but that would be mistake at this early stage. The hearing is not a trial, and your case is not prosecuted at this point. The hearing is largely for procedural matters, not substantive ones (such as which witnesses are lying or whether the arresting officer was abusive). For this reason, you should not testify at the hearing.

Your criminal defense attorney will ask you several questions, such as whether you were at the scene of the crime, what excuse you have for your conduct, and whether you have any prior history with the victim or anyone else who was present. This will be useful information to building your defense and establishing your credibility.

If you have further questions about how to act at your preliminary hearing, contact the law office of Sacramento criminal defense attorney Param Pabla to schedule an initial consultation.