What Happens At An Arraignment?

You’ve probably heard on the news, “so-and-so pleaded not guilty to the charges at their arraignment this morning.” The not guilty is usually emphasized, as if it’s a surprise.

But the truth is, pleading not guilty at arraignment is the standard protocol.

First it’s important to understand what actually happens at an arraignment. The arraignment is one of the first hearings that happen in a criminal case, aside from the bond hearing. At arraignment, the charges are formally presented. The judge will ask the defense attorney to “arraign” or “proceed with arraignment,” at which time the defense attorney will say something along the lines of:

“We’ve received a copy of the indictment and have reviewed the charges with [client name], we waive its formal reading, enter a plea of not guilty on all counts, request the Court enter a standing discovery order, and demand a trial by jury.”

Here’s why defense attorneys say “not guilty.”

Pleading guilty triggers a different script for a different type of hearing.

When a person pleads guilty, a different type of hearing takes place. It is called a “plea hearing” or a “change of plea” hearing. At the plea hearing, the judge will go through the allegations, the plea agreement, and the factual proffer in support of the plea agreement. The judge will ask the client if everything in the factual proffer is true, whether anyone has coerced them to take a plea, and will go through all of the constitutional rights the client gives up by pleading guilty, such as the right to a trial by a jury of their peers, the right to force the government to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the right to testify in their own defense, the right to confront witnesses against them, and the right to compel witnesses to testify. The judge asks these questions to make sure the individual has a full understanding of what they are pleading guilty to and what the terms of the agreement are, in order to make a finding that the plea is being entered into knowingly and voluntarily.

One rare occasions when a prosecutor has worked out a plea agreement with the defense in advance of arraignment, the court may schedule the arraignment and change of plea to take place back to back. So if you check the docket before the arraignment and there is no change of plea scheduled, you can probably bet that the person is going to plead not guilty at arraignment. This is because arraignments take less than 5 minutes and plea hearings can take longer (depending on how complicated the agreement is), and because judges often hear numerous arraignments every day, back-to-back, so the judge needs to fit the appropriate hearings into their calendars.

It’s way too early.

As you see from the script, the defense attorney will request the court “enter a standing discovery order” or “demand discovery.” This is the part of the arraignment when the defense demands the prosecutor start turning over every piece of evidence the government has against the accused.

Defense attorneys would not be doing their job if they advised their client to plead guilty at arraignment, before the prosecutor has been compelled to turn over evidence. Even if the person “feels like they did something wrong,” there could still be a number of legal reasons why the client shouldn’t plead guilty anyway. For example, maybe the evidence shows that a lesser offense is more appropriate, or that law enforcement committed a constitutional violation during the investigation or arrest. Most importantly, every single person is innocent until the government proves them guilty beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. 

If you have been arrested and are looking for legal representation at arraignment and beyond, contact Altonaga Law for a free consultation.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship with the viewer, nor should it be construed as such.