Item: Law Office of Param S. Pabla
Rating: 5
Author: Gurpreet

What Happens After You’re Arrested?

First, you will go through processing with law enforcement. Next, you will go before a judicial officer (such as a judge, magistrate, or justice of the peace) in an initial appearance in court. This is so that the judicial officer can take a look at the charges against you to make sure the police have probable cause to hold you in jail.

This appearance before a judge or judicial officer serves other purposes, as well. The judge will inform you of your rights at this time. The judge will inform you of the charges against you, and he will explain those charges to you. You have a right to obtain a copy of the charges. The judge will also set a bail amount, as well as a preliminary date for your hearing. The judge will further advise you of your legal rights, such as your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney. You have a right to choose a lawyer to represent you, or the judge can appoint a lawyer if you don’t know of any or don’t want to choose one for yourself. A lawyer who specializes in your type of case, such as a Sacramento criminal attorney, can be especially helpful.

Some people confuse the “initial appearance” in court with an “arraignment,” which occurs after the initial appearance and is the stage at which the defendant needs to plead guilty or not-guilty to the charge. In many cases, there are no lawyers on either side at the initial appearance, but if you have hired a defense lawyer by that point, he or she has the right to attend. Starting with the initial appearance, defendants have a constitutional right to be represented by counsel. If you don’t have a lawyer, the court is required to appoint a lawyer to represent you within a short period of time. The initial appearance in court also marks the point when there is a limit on the ability of the police to take statements from you and have a lineup without your attorney being present.

As you would expect, you are constitutionally entitled to have an attorney at the arraignment stage.

Looking for a Sacramento misdemeanor criminal attorney? Call attorney Param Pabla for an initial consultation.

★★★★★

“Mr. Pabla represented me with my DUI case. He has excellent communication skills and always kept me informed. Mr. Pabla made sure I understood the process and my rights. He eased my mind through a very stressful situation. I highly recommend Mr. Pabla.” Gurpreet

“I am so happy with the service that I received from Param S. Pabla. Jarrett did a great job solving my legal issue and I can’t recommend him enough! He was able to do everything quickly, painlessly, and was ALWAYS available to talk when I needed him. If I ever need help again, I will definitely use him!" Boris

“Param was excellent in my court case of failure to stop at a stop sign. The officer could not see clearly because he was too far away. The officer insisted he could and said he had video but could not produce it at the trial. The officer then asked if he could suspend the trial to go get the video but the judge said he should have had plenty of time to get the video ready beforehand. Needless to say, the judge ruled in my favor and dismissed the case which enraged the officer. Pabla Param’s defense and cross examination skills were excellent and paramount in having the case dismissed. Highly recommended.” T.C.

“My husband and I needed to update everything -family trust, will, medical stuff. Param was really patient -answering all my questions -even when I asked them twice. He wanted to be sure I understood everything we were doing. All docs were sent to us so we could go through them on our own time before anything was finalized. I also liked when we were looking at medical stuff that he had a conversation with me about what I wanted and pointed out some things I didn’t think of.” Debbie

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