Procedure of Criminal Courts (pt 2)
Tags: Lawyers, Prison, Criminal, Law

Last week we talked about the procedures that take place after you are arrested. There is sufficient evidence proving to the police that you are the leading suspect in a crime; however, you are presumed innocent until proved guilty. If you read our article last, you may have read that there are different possible paths that you may go through once you are arrested. The common characteristic between all those paths is if you are released from police custody or not. It doesn’t matter if you are released or not, what matters is the date on your promise to appear. This week we will be talking about the “intake process” and your “initial appearance”. There is a bonus section at the end!

Intake Process

The intake process is where you reach out to a law firm or a lawyer to take on your case. This process is mainly for law firms because they undergo a series of steps when onboarding a new client. This includes taking your email, phone number, setting up meetings, etc.

The duration of the intake process is very short; it starts when you call law firms and lawyers to take on your case, and ends when you have selected an entity to represent you in court.

Disclaimer: Pay attention to the following paragraphs as it will benefit your law practice in the future.

The intake process gets rid of frivolous cases that have no merit and isolates cases that might have a conflict. This is very important to do because it prevents from draining your company’s resources. After you have decided that this case is worth taking, then you should get your prospective client to sign the fee agreement and the letter of engagement. This will ensure your client does not drop you as their lawyer, and get another lawyer to represent them. It, also, clears up any confusion in the air about the compensation structure.

This process is not as simple as it sounds. There are plenty of prospective clients considering your firm as their representative. In this process, there are numerous tasks that need to be completed that have strict deadlines along with the pressure in the firm. Due to the amount of work in this process, it is very easy for your to miss deadlines and forget to call back your clients. According to Process.st, “61% of law firms forget to ask for their prospective client’s name during the initial conversation. Also, 35% of clients’ calls go unanswered, and it takes 3 or more days for 42% of law firms to respond to their prospective clients” (Carter, 2020).

Business Tip: Quality is the only factor that will set your firm apart from your competitors. Having a high-quality work will result satisfied clients and brand loyalty. In terms of the intake process, the quality of work that you provide will determine the chances of you converting your lead into revenue.

Once you have chosen a firm or lawyer to represent you, the intake process is now finished, and you can talking more about your case during this process.

Initial Appearance

Your initial appearance is your first appearance in court. Usually, your lawyer is able to represent you in court without you physically present in court. However, there are certain exceptions, and if it says on your promise to appear or undertaking without conditions that you must appear in court, then you must appear in court. Your initial appearance is very important because if you don’t show up to court when you are needed, then the judge can issue a bench warrant to have you arrested. If you are unable to attend court on that date, then a duty counsel can help you move up your date. Cases with lawyers are usually taken before cases that don’t include the representation of lawyers.

Note: If you don’t have a lawyer representing you in court, then there is a duty counsel there to help you. There are a few restrictions placed on duty counsellors which doesn’t allow them to represent you in court.

Some things to remember before your initial appearance:

Arrive at least 10–15 minutes before the time written on your document because you don’t know what life has in store for you.

This is not a trial so that means that your lawyer will not be arguing for you nor will they be calling witnesses to the stand.

If you have something to say, then tell your lawyer or the duty counsel representing you.

The first court date — initial appearance — is mainly focused on getting disclosure from the Crown. The Crown’s disclosure is the evidence the police and authorities have about your case. Depending on your “actions”, the Crown may offer your “direct accountability” (aka diversion)

Disclosure

Your disclosure is what the Crown has about your case and against you. Sometimes, you may be offered your disclosure on the morning of your trial. Some documents that may be included in your disclosure are:

A police officer’s note

Medical Reports

Witness Statements

Crown screening form

Surveillance videos

Forensic reports

As more information is available, the Crown is legally required to disclose the information to the defence, and vice versa. In order to ensure success in your case, you cannot proceed to trial without all the evidence. You may have to appear in court to get all of your disclosure. Make sure to tell the Court that you want your case postponed because you did not receive full disclosure from the Crown. This, also, allows your lawyer to strengthen their arguments.

One of the most important documents in that list is the “crown screen form”. This form tells the defence how the Crown plans to proceed with your case. It includes:

Proceeding with a summary conviction or an indictable offence.

If you are approved for diversion

The sentence the Crown will ask for

Direct Accountability

The Crown may be willing to withdraw charges against you if you:

Complete a certain number of community service hours

Get some counselling about your behaviour

However, you must remember that the Crown may choose to offer you diversion. You could ask the Crown, but it solely up to their discretion.

If you do receive diversion, then you are not required to make a decision immediately. You are allowed to talk with your lawyer or duty counsel about your offer. If you do accept the terms of your diversion, then your case will be held down for a while, but it has NOT been adjourned. The court has given you time to go to the diversion office in the courthouse to talk with the diversion court worker. You MUST NOT LEAVE the courthouse until the judge officially adjourns it. When you are at the diversions office, the court worker will find the perfect program for you to participate in. Once a worker finds you a program, they will provide you with a date to give to your judge. This date will tell the judge to what date they should adjourn the case.

Adjourning For the Day

The judge will confirm the date of your next court appearance, and they may give you a written reminder. If you are in court for the first time, the judge will adjourn your case to allow the Crown to fully assemble your disclosure. Before the next court, speak with your lawyer about how they are going to approach and prepare for this trial.

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

In 90 days of you, you should try to decide on how you want your case to move forward. Remember how we told you that there are numerous paths for your case to move forward? Well, your decision within 90 days will determine how your case will move forward.

You have 3 choices to from: