How long before charges are filed

By Janet Portman , Attorney. For suspects who are in custody, some kind of court appearance usually an "arraignment" or "initial appearance" must typically occur within two or three days.

At that court appearance, the government presents the charges against the defendant. The charges are normally subject to change, though. For example, a prosecutor might not make a final decision on charges until after a preliminary hearing , which can take place more than a month after arrest. For more detail on the first court appearance and what happens at it, read about the arraignment process. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site.

The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. Law enforcement can't hold a suspect indefinitely without the filing of charges.

State , So. Once that happened, the felony was reduced to a misdemeanor DUI. Woodbury appealed, arguing that the misdemeanor DUI went beyond the 90 days, but his appeal was denied because a felony court may continue handling any lesser included misdemeanor charges.

This case contains a few practice tips for prosecutors, and they rarely make this sort of mistake. Under the rules of such a dismissal, the state is granted an extension of the speedy trial time to file any appropriate misdemeanor. The mistake here was dropping the felony charge and re-filing it as a misdemeanor. A good prosecutor would have let the defense attorney file a Motion to Dismiss the felony on the grounds that the bike was not worth enough to constitute a felony, and such a motion would have permitted an extension of time for the state.

One this is for certain, the prosecutor in Borko will not make this mistake again. When an arrest is not made, it is the Statute of Limitations that controls such events. Please leave this field empty. Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure.

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The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney- client relationship. Our Blogs. So, remember that almost all felonies have a 3 year deadline. I do wish you luck, thanks for watching and take care. Search for:. Contact Us Now. Important Links. Contact Us. Law Firm of John P.

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