What does a felony charge mean?

What does a felony charge mean?

In general, a felony can be defined as any criminal offense that results in a prison of one year or longer. They tend to be crimes that involve an element of violence and are considered harmful or dangerous to society.

Why plead not guilty when you are?

When you plead not guilty, you and your lawyer have more time to review your case, analyze the strength of the evidence against you, and determine if there are any weakness in the prosecution’s case. That means you could be given a reduced charge or sentence in exchange for later pleading guilty.

Can you be sentenced at a plea hearing?

Since a guilty plea means a defendant accepts committing the offence, it is not possible at the sentencing hearing for a defendant to seek to distance himself from the offence by, for example, saying “I pleaded guilty but I didn’t really do it” or “I’m not guilty and only pleaded guilty because I didn’t want the …

What happens when you are sentenced to jail?

After Sentencing: Once the judge imposes sentence, defendants may ask the judge to rule on collateral matters. Those being sentenced to federal prison may ask the judge to resolve three matters: Those with sentences of less than 10 years may request time to get their affairs in order and report to prison voluntarily.

Do all cases go to court?

This is usually when the offence is denied or a reasonable explanation is given. Not all offenders are dealt with in court, the police do have a number of options in dealing with minor crimes that are called Out-of-Court disposals.

Do criminal cases always go to trial?

It’s no secret that the overwhelming majority of criminal cases never reach trial. The prosecution may dismiss charges, perhaps because of a lack of evidence. And some defendants escape conviction through pretrial motions, like a motion to suppress evidence. But most cases end pursuant to a plea bargain.

How long do cases take to go to court?

It is impossible to predict how long a case will take to go to any court – however, on average it can take up to six months for a case to go to magistrates’ court and up to a year for a case to reach Crown Court.

Can CPS drop a case?

The CPS can however decide to drop charges at the latter stages of police enquiries, or charges can be dropped at the early stages of police enquiry if they are directly sourcing from the influence of the complainant (the victim). It is also possible for the CPS to discontinue a case when it has already come to court.