Fundamentals of the Criminal Justice Process

                The State of Florida is divided into 67 counties.  The 67 counties are further divided into 20 judicial circuits with each one headed by an elected State Attorney.  The State Attorney and his assistants are authorized to file criminal charges.  Police do not file charges, they make arrests. Those arrests are reviewed by each State Attorney’s office and the individuals who they charge are set for arraignment.  Arraignment is the first court appearance after arrest. 

                People who are arrested in the State of Florida are not entitled to a bond if they are accused of first -degree murder, sexual battery on a child under the age of 12, are on probation with a new violation, or already on bond for a criminal charge and a new crime is committed.  All others are entitled to a reasonable bond upon arrest.  A bond can be paid by the individual defendant or through a bondsman.  If a bondsman posts the bond the defendant must pay a fee of 10% to the bondsman.  A bondsman will require collateral for the balance of the bond.  The competition between bondsman occurs over the collateral they are will to accept.  Some bondsmen will take your signature on a promissory note, but most will require collateral ion the form of automobiles, personal property, and real estate. 

                Approximately 3 weeks after arrest, the defendant will be notified of arraignment.  There are two purposes of arraignment.  The first is to determine who will represent the defendant.  This is done either by a personally hired counsel or a court appointed counselor if the defendant is indigent.  The second is to enter a not guilty plea.  The case will then proceed through a series of pre-trial conferences over the next 4-6 months to allow the attorney an opportunity to review the evidence, negotiate a plea deal with the State Attorney, or set the case for trial.

                The State has 180 days from arrest on a felony to bring you to trial and 90 days from arrest on a misdemeanor.  Most cases are plea bargained because if someone goes to trial and loses they will more than likely be confined as part of the punishment of losing at trial. 

                If a person loses at trial they will have one automatic right to appeal to a 3-judge appellate court.  A court appointed attorney is available if the defendant cannot afford appellate counsel.  The appeal is based strictly on the recorded transcripts from the trial and nothing else.  The defendant will be required to file the initial legal brief, the Attorney General’s office will represent the state and file the answer brief, and then the defendant will have one last opportunity to file a reply brief to respond to the Attorney General.  A criminal appeal takes about 2 years before a decision is made.  In some cases an appellate bond can be granted allowing the defendant to remain free during that 2-year period.  Appellate bonds are rare in the state system.