Sheriff`s Corner

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Sheriff's Corner. I'd like to continue our discussion on what happens after someone is arrested. In the first few Corners, we discussed the time immediately after arrest, first appearance and then moved into the defenses motion to discover. Many people tell us that the time after arrest up to the time right before testimony and depositions seems to drag. That it seems like nothing is going on. As you can see quite a bit happens behind the scene between many agencies.

Now let's get into the very important phase. When the prosecution "takes testimony" and the defense sends out their subpoenas for depositions. Both testimony and depositions are taken under oath with the deposition also using a court reporter. The defense attorney conducts the deposition with a state attorney present. Testimony is usually given at the State Attorney's office and is hosted by the State Attorney.

The State Attorney also sends the "maximum plea offer" with conditions. This means the defense is basically told that the State Attorney is going for the maximum. An example would be; we arrest for possession of cocaine. If the offender has not been arrested before, they would receive drug offender probation, drug testing, court costs and fees, and drug evaluation and counseling. At the same time law enforcement, that is the investigating/arresting agency can send an affidavit to the court showing the investigation hours, the wage/hours for the officers along with a transcript of the case. Generally speaking, if the guidelines score less than 40 the offender gets probation. If the score is more than 40, jail time is in order.

Next week I'll add to this week's area and try to finish this last of this topic. Have a great week.

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