Legal system 101

Players:

• District Court Judge: District Court Judges are elected officials appointed to oversee court proceedings and decisions for misdemeanor cases, evictions, juvenile, disability, small claims, mental inquest, criminal arraignments. Jefferson County has 17 district court judges on the bench.

• Circuit Court: Circuit Court Judges are elected officials appointed to oversee court proceedings and decisions. hears criminal cases that have been indicted via the Grand Jury (Felony cases) and civil cases over $5,000.

• Defendant: Community member being sued or accused of a crime in a court of law.

• Private Attorney: Attorney’s paid by the defendant or plaintiff to represent them in a court of law.

• Public Defender: Court appointed pro bono counsel for criminal cases, including for juvenile cases.

• Plaintiff: A person who brings a case against a community member, company, or institution in a court of law.

• County Attorneys: Attorneys representing the State who handle misdemeanors and felonies coming through District Court, child support cases (including felonies), family court, and defends the city (and LMPD) in civil suits.

• Commonwealth Attorneys: Attorneys representing the State who handle felony cases from the point of grand jury hearings onward.

• Bench Clerks: Aid the judge with keeping the docket moving, who is present for the hearing, relaying and recording case details.

Types of Hearings:

• Arraignment (common abbreviation: arr.): The first appearance for every criminal case. At this court date, a bond is set and the community member enters a plea, usually not guilty. If the community member can’t afford to hire an attorney a public defender be appointed at this time.

• In Custody Arraignment: Public Defenders cover the in-custody arraignment docket in District Court for anyone who does not have an attorney yet to stand in and request bond reductions and ensure people who can’t afford an attorney get a public defender appointed.

• Out of Custody Arraignment: Community members can appear by themselves (pro se) at out of custody arraignments to plead not guilty and request a public defender be appointed. Or they can hire a private attorney to represent them prior to the arraignment date.

• Circuit Court Arraignment: After the grand jury issues an indictment, a person has an arraignment on the indictment in Circuit Court. This is a fresh opportunity for the Circuit Court judge to set a new bond and begins the process of moving towards trial on the felony charge, which means a person if officially facing potential prison time.

• Bond Hearing: If a person remains in custody after arraignment, lawyers commonly file bond motions to request a hearing in front of the judge to ask for a bond reduction. Bond reductions take many forms, from requesting a release on their own recognizance to requesting a reduction in the amount of bond to requesting home incarceration.

• Pre-Trial Conference (common abbreviation: PTC) : The next step in a court case, in custody or out of custody, is the pretrial conference. This is typically where the State attorney would make initial offers to resolve cases and negotiations on a resolution may happen. Police officers and/or witnesses are commonly subpoenaed by prosecutors to these pretrial conferences in order to obtain information.

• Grand Jury: No one can be indicted on felony charges without first going through a grand jury hearing. The grand jury is a secret hearing scheduled to be heard during a certain week, but you will not know the date and time. People facing indictment do not attend these court dates, nor do their attorneys. These dates are frequently rescheduled and typically, people or their attorneys are mailed letters to notify them it was pushed back. If a person is in custody, their case must be heard by the grand jury within 60 days of it being sent to the grand jury or they are entitled to be released on that case (via a motion from the attorney).

• Enter a Plea (or Guilty Plea GP): This is scheduled when a person has agreed to an offer and indicates they wish to enter a plea deal. Sometimes, this is scheduled as a “last chance” type court date where the person has their last opportunity to make the decision between a guilty plea or a trial date.

• Jury Trial: The case is argued in front of a jury of 12 citizens, unless other conditions are set. Especially during COVID, these dates are likely to change.

• Review: These are basically court dates to check on the status of someone’s progress on things like paying restitution, attending classes, drug treatment, or other services and fees.

• Sentencing: A sentencing occurs most commonly after a guilty plea, typically in circuit court. This is scheduled after some misdemeanor pleas when a person enters diversion programs or someone is being given a chance to comply with certain terms and conditions to earn a lesser sentence. In Circuit Court, sentencing hearings are most commonly conducted when there is going to be an argument between the sides over probation or prison time.

• Shock Probation: A person serving a sentence is entitled to file one motion for shock probation. This is most common in people serving prison terms for felonies. The motions are typically filed by the attorneys who represented the person at sentencing and must be filed in the window of 30 - 180 days after the sentencing date.

• Revocation Hearing (Motion to Revoke MTR): These occur when someone is alleged to not be following through on the conditions of their probation or conditional discharge time. The most common reasons these motions are filed by prosecutors are allegations that a person is not paying restitution, not doing some sort of classes or drug treatment, failing to report to their probation officer. A person is entitled to an evidentiary hearing before having their probation revoked and sent to jail or prison for their sentence, but most often, these resolve through negotiations and agreements.

• Evidentiary Hearing/Suppression Hearing: These are scheduled in response to various motions that require the court to hear from witnesses and/or the arguments of counsel in order to make a ruling. These most commonly appear in circuit court cases for things like motions to exclude or suppress evidence.

Common Terms and Helpful Links:

• Discovery: This is all the evidence that the prosecutor has that they intend to use against the accused person. Legally, prosecutors are supposed to disclose exculpatory evidence (evidence favorable to the accused person) as well. In District Court, a motion must be made in order to obtain the discovery. In Circuit Court, the prosecutor is required to turn over discovery before the first pretrial conference.

• Home Incarceration Program (“HIP”): Home incarceration is a form of bond or a form of agreed-to incarceration in which a person wears a GPS ankle monitor at all times. If they do not have specific releases allowing them to go to specific places and limited times, they must stay inside their residence at all times. (Seriously, can’t even go to the curb to take the trash out type of strict.) HIP officers are notoriously vicious and will reincarcerate people for the smallest violations, without warning. Anyone on HIP is subject to a home search, without warning. In order for someone to be released back to HIP, a motion has to be made with the judge.

• Misdemeanor: These are cases that carry a maximum of 365 day jail sentence. There are two levels of misdemeanors, A and B. (A = maximum 365 days in jail, B = maximum 90 days in jail.) These are denoted with an “M” in the case number.

• Felony: These are cases that carry 1 year or greater in prison time as a sentence. They are denoted as “F” within the case name while the felony is still in District Court, and “CR” when the case has moved to circuit court. There are four different levels of felonies that carry various minimum and maximum prison terms.