The process of arresting a person has deteriorated with time. In USA, if a suspect is charged with murder, he/she may be given a bail, in which most families contact a bondsman to arrange for bail bonds. This bail bond is a surety bond to guarantee that the detainees will give the amount if he/she fails to come to the hearing. Now what happens, the suspect is called in the cell, he/she hears the charges and faces the judge. This procedure is called arraignment.
Arraignment is a formal reading of the complaint, which is done during the presence of the judge and the criminal or defendant, to let him know the charges against him/her. In the other words, it is the court hearing for a criminal case where the charges are read against the criminal. Usually, it is short, unless the crime is a serious felony. In some countries, it is first of the eleven stages in the trial. While in other countries, such as United States of America, it is divided into two stages: the initial arraignment and the post-indictment arraignment. The first one takes place in the first 48 hours of the arrest and during this; the defendant is informed of all the legal charges on them and their rights to retain counsel. In the second arraignment, the suspect is allowed to enter a plea.
Different Types of Pleas
In arraignment, the suspect either admits or denies the charges given to him/her. When accused of some charges, the court asks the defendant that how will he/she plea. In return, the suspects can plea in three different ways. Following are the three ways in which a suspect can plea.
• Non-guilty Plea - In a non-guilty plea, the defendant refutes the criminal charges against them. Defendants can choose this type of plea for many reasons. They can choose this if they have a defense to the criminal charges, for example, insanity defense. Or an innocent defendant may choose this so that their case can be tried before the jury.
• Guilty Plea - This plea affirms that the defendant is accepting the charges that have been given to him/her. Some people confess to the crime they have committed. This can be due to the fact that they feel remorse or want to pay for the crime. People, who are concerned about the trial costs, may also opt for the guilty plea as they might want to save money and not spend on the trial.
• No contest plea - According to this plea, it means that the person is neither denying the charges, nor is he/she accepting them. However, if the person goes for no contest plea, it is often considered that the person is guilty. This type of plea does not keep the court from finding the person guilty, but results in conviction.
Once the pleas are done, the dates for trial are decided. If the case is minor, than the accused may pay a ransom and leave. But if the case is a serious one, the judge can pronounce a sentence, as well. Arraignment is a formal process in which the person charged with crime is arraigned in his/her first appearance before the judge. It is a fair procedure, in which the detainee is punished if he/she has committed a crime, or saved if he/she has been accused.
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