When arrested and/or investigated for a crime, you are not immediately charged with a crime. It may take weeks or months before charges coming from the prosecutor. In this type of situation, you will not have a court date or know the exact charges. This is the perfect time to hire an attorney, because an attorney can help coordinate when and where you'll need to go to court, and can get daily information about the status of your case. Your attorney may even be able to speak to the police department and prosecutor about the incident, and may be able to have some influence on the type of charge or if you're charged at all. This is not a conversation you should attempt with law enforcement, because anything you say will be used against you.
Once the prosecutor decides to charge you. some courts will send out a notice to appear for an arraignment, and there will not be an active warrant for your arrest. Some courts will not alert you, but rather issue a warrant, and may or may not contact you about your charges. This means you could be walking or driving around with an active warrant for your arrest. If you're pulled over, attempt to leave the country or fly on an airplane, you will most likely be arrested, detained in jail and brought before a judge. I've had countless clients contact me after being arrested on a warrant, which would not have been necessary if they had simply hired me a few weeks prior when I could have tracked their case and arranged for their arraignment to be waived and the warrant cancelled, or at the very least to setup a court date to appear before the judge and have the warrant cancelled.
Once in front of the judge, you will hear the charged you're faced with and a bond will be set in your case, which could be a personal bond meaning you don't post money on the spot or a bond, which you must post money. Occasionally judges set a bond, and only make you post 10 percent of that amount. You will also have various bond conditions, which you will discuss with your attorney at the time of the arraignment. Once arraigned, your case will proceed to the next step, which will involve obtaining all the evidence against you, your attorney speaking with the prosecutor and judge, and exploring your options going forward.
If you've been arrested or have been investigated for a crime in Michigan, give me a call, and I will try to get you more information about your case. You may be able to avoid a night in jail by being pro-active about t