Criminal Case Process

Arrest happens.
Preliminary Arraignment - At a preliminary arraignment, the Defendant will be read the specific charges that have been filed against them. The arraignment is brief and bail will be set. Once the arraignment is completed, the Defendant will then appear for the Preliminary Hearing.
Preliminary Hearing – The preliminary hearing occurs at the Magisterial District Judge’s office. The Public Defender, the defendant and the District Attorney will be present. The attorney present may not be the attorney assigned to the case if the case is moved to the Court of Common Pleas. The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine if there is enough evidence to show that a crime was committed and that the defendant is likely to have committed that crime. If a case is not closed at the preliminary hearing, it will be moved to the Court of Common Pleas.
Formal Arraignment occurs when a case is waived to the Court of Common Pleas. If you are represented by an attorney, they will enter a plea of ‘Not Guilty’, your attorney will be added to your case docket, and discovery is requested. The defendant will not attend if they have an attorney.
Status Conferences – Status Conference is the first hearing between the assigned district attorney and the assigned Public Defender that takes place before a judge at the Common Pleas Court. These conferences are an opportunity for the attorney to request additional evidence (discovery), negotiate offers, and decide whether the case will go to trial or plead. Additional time may be needed for proper representation of the defendant. The defendant will not need to attend if they have an attorney. Please note that the time between these dates varies.
Call of the Criminal Trial List – At this hearing, the case may be scheduled for a guilty plea or listed for trial. Continuances allow additional time for the defendant and attorney to consider the options in a case, or if the case was not accepted by the judge for the trial term. If your case is listed for trial, the defendant must be prepared to attend trial during the trial term, which is one to two weeks following the defendant’s case being listed for trial.

Criminal Case Process

Contact Us

Helpful Links

Site Links