Lessons · Law foundations · the life of a criminal case
The life of a criminal case, start to finish
A criminal case runs arrest, charge, first appearance, release decision, plea, disclosure and discovery, trial, then sentencing if there is a finding of guilt, and then any appeal.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
A family calling the office asks what happens next, and the answer is a stage on a line. Being able to say where the case is, and what the next fixed point is, is most of what a first conversation with a frightened caller needs.
How to think about it
Place the case on the line before anything else. Everything after that, including which papers are due, follows from the stage it is standing on.
Worked example
Arrest, then a decision by the state about what to charge.Being arrested is not being charged. They are two separate events and they can be days apart.
First court date: the charge is read and the question of release is dealt with.The earliest point at which the court itself is involved.
A plea is entered, and the case is set on a track.The track the case takes from here depends on the plea.
Disclosure and discovery, then trial.The state's evidence goes to the defence; then the case is tried on what is left in dispute.
Your turn
After a finding of guilt, the case moves to the stage where the penalty is decided. Write the name of that stage.
After a finding of guilt, the case moves to
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Assuming a charge follows every arrest and a trial follows every charge. Charges are dropped, cases are resolved by plea, and a line drawn from arrest straight to trial describes a small minority of files.