If arrested in Savannah, Georgia, your first court appearance will be at the arraignment. At the arraignment, the judge will read out the charges filed against you in the complaint and you can choose to plead “guilty,” “not guilty” or “no contest” to those charges. The judge will also review your bail and fix dates for future hearings. A preliminary hearing, or preliminary examination, is the adversarial proceeding in which lawyers examine witnesses and both parties make arguments. The judge then makes the final finding of probable cause. In a grand jury, only the prosecutor is heard by the jury. The grand jury can call their own witnesses and request that further investigations be done. The grand jury then determines if sufficient proof has been presented to indict the defendant. If you have been convicted, you usually have the right to appeal. A seasoned Savannah, Georgia criminal appeal law firm will request the higher court to overturn the trial court’s decision due to legal or procedural mistakes. The appeal court judges are looking for errors which may have changed the decision. In a appeal, you submit written “briefs” to the court, along with a copy of the trial court transcript and any exhibits that were produced at trial. Oral arguments may be scheduled. Arguments are generally very short in duration, and tend to be academic in nature, focusing on legal issues. In an appeal, the higher court looks for mistakes in the verdict of the trial court. If the higher court finds mistakes in the trial court’s decision, the appeal court can direct a re-trial or set aside the conviction.
————————-Savannah GA DUI Lawyer – Georgia Criminal Defense Attorney
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