Grand Rapids Felony Lawyer

Criminal Court Procedures of Michigan

Whether you have been charged with a state or federal crime, understanding the basic steps in criminal court procedure is vital for protecting your rights. Depending on the nature of your crime and the charges against you, the process may differ, but the most common steps include:

• Arraignment. This is likely the first time you will appear in court following your initial arrest. If you are arrested on a Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday, you likely will not see a judge until Monday. During this initial stage of the court procedure, you will be required to enter an official plea as the defendant—not guilty, guilty, or nolo contendere (no contest). At the arraignment, most people enter a plea of not guilty, which gives them time to obtain an attorney, receive the evidence, and evaluate any potential defense.
• Pretrial. During your pretrial hearings, certain factors will be considered to determine whether or not your case can be resolved without a trial. Some pretrial hearings are just conferences between the prosecutor and your defense attorney, and these scheduled court hearings may feel pointless to you if you don’t see the judge, but they offer a chance for the attorneys to sit down and figure out how they want to proceed with your case.
• Plea negotiations. Your attorney should always be preparing for two potential outcomes: a plea or a trial. Many cases end in a plea negotiation because it is beneficial to both sides and affords the defendant some certainty over a more favorable outcome. If trial is the best option for you, your attorney should be preparing for trial no matter what the plea offers are, including filing motions that could help your case and identifying witnesses and evidence for trial.
• Trial. If your case goes to trial, it will be presented in court, and the burden of proof will rest with the prosecution to prove that you are guilty of the charged crime. Most criminal cases are held in front of a jury, unless both sides waive that right and decide to proceed to a bench trial, where the judge will be the only decision-maker. Trials range in length from one day to multiple weeks, depending on the complexity.
• Verdict. After both sides in a criminal case present their case, the jury (or judge in a bench trial) determines if the defendant is guilty or not guilty. If the jury cannot agree on a unanimous verdict no matter how much time they deliberate, the case will result in a mistrial, and the prosecutor will have to decide whether to try the case again or drop the charges.
• Sentencing. If convicted either through a guilty plea or a trial, the next stage is sentencing. In felony cases, the court will require you to come back for a hearing approximately 2-3 months after your conviction because they will need the probation office to complete a presentence investigation report first. The presentence investigation report provides the judge with more information about you, your background, and the offense. It also calculates the guidelines in felony cases, which give the judge a range they should consider for sentencing. Judges can go above, below, or within the sentencing guidelines range, but the guidelines provide a framework for what to expect in most cases. In misdemeanor cases in Michigan, the sentencing guidelines do not apply, and the judge is bound only by the maximum sentence under the statute. For that reason, sometimes in misdemeanor cases it can be harder to predict whether the person will face jail time or not. Jail is a possibility in every criminal case, unless there is an agreement ahead of time for a no-jailtime sentence.
• Appeals. In Michigan, there are several grounds for filing an appeal. These may include legal errors made during the trial, improper rulings by the judge, misconduct or bias by the jury, or other factors that may have affected the fairness of your case. At SBBL Law, we have significant experience in appellate cases in both state courts and the federal courts of appeal.