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During your arraignment, you will be in a courtroom with a lot of other defendants. Everyone is in the same situation as you. It’s the first day of a long process and it’s ok to be nervous. You will most likely have an attorney on the day of your arraignment. If you don’t, that’s ok. As explained before, the judge will give you time to find & hire a criminal defense attorney.
Once your name is called, you will proceed with your attorney to the front of the courtroom. You will stand next to your attorney on one side of the and the prosecutor will be on the other side. The judge will ask for your attorney’s appearance to be placed on the record & the prosecutor must do the same.
Next, the judge will read the criminal charges against you out loud. Sometimes the judge will ask your attorney if he/she wishes to “waive the reading” of the charges. Since your attorney has discussed the charges you are facing prior to your arraignment, he/she will most likely agree to “waive the reading” of the charges.
Next, the judge will ask, “how do you plead to these charges?”.
You will have the following choices:
Plead Guilty
You will have to admit what you did under oath. This option will leave you with a criminal conviction. It will stay on your record for years before it can be expunged. And it will show up a background check.
Plead Not Guilty
This means that judge will set a scheduling order for your next court appearance. During this time, the prosecutor must provide your defense attorney with all of the evidence against you. Your defense attorney will review the evidence with you and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your case.
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