Continuing …  ongoing information pieces on the facilities and processes of the justice system at work in Orange County CA as the workings apply to arrested parties. 

You’ve been arraigned, you’ve entered your plea of guilty or no contest, and you’ve received your sentence so now you are committed to completing the terms of the sentencing.   There are county provided options such as DUI Court and Collaborative Court for repeat offenders who seriously don’t want to continue on a path toward a third strike, those will be discussed in Part V.

If you are going the full not-guilty path, you are really going to have that ongoing relationship with the Orange County Justice Centers (part I); your charges have now migrated to being a “case.”  You may be released on O.R. or wearing a tracking device but you are not anywhere close to being done.

The American Bar Association establishes the following standard for felony cases from arrest to judgment or dismissal*:

• 90% dealt with in 120 days
• 98% dealt with in 180 days
• 100% dealt with in 365 days

In California, a person charged with a felony must have a trial scheduled within 60 days of arrest or served indictment.

Pre-Trial Hearing

A pre-trial hearing may be held in order to “disclose” the evidence on both sides of the argument (prosecution and defense) and it’s up to the judge to determine whether or not a case should proceed to trial.  You should plan on appearing, as it is during this process that dismissal, reduction of charges or sentences, or that a plea agreement is proposed in order to keep the case from going to trial.   A trial by jury costs the county money and clogs an already overwhelmed court system.  Plea agreements are typically acceptance of a lesser charge and lesser sentence and fines and/or jail time.  In the case of a misdemeanor, the charge might be reduced to an infraction (much like traffic) where there is a fixed fine and perhaps probation.  The lesser charge options may have been what you sought all along, but that’s no one else’s business.

If you move forward in a search for full acquittal, you really need to have an attorney or absolute certainty of evidence that can exonerate you.   The fact that the judge didn’t dismiss the charges or that an acceptable plea agreement couldn’t be reached means that either your arguments were weak or that you will be held to corroborate your facts in trial.  While the constitution guarantees you the right to a jury of peers, your “peers” are people who got their names pulled from the DMV or voter registration and are performing their civic duty in serving.  Is your defense built on people who are the same?

That’s not to cast doubt on continuing, that’s a reality check. 

Preparing for Tria

If you are still out on your original bail or bail bond and proceeding to trial, get your church clothes pressed, cleaned and ready for the next round of events.   You and your attorney or public defender (or you alone) should have evidence to back your side of the story, a list of witnesses who can support your claim, a paper trail like bank transactions that can prove you were somewhere else.   For all these pieces of evidence, you or your attorney must file paperwork to subpoena persons and admit records to your defense

Important things to remember as you approach trial:

• the prosecution (district attorney representative) has the responsibility to prove that you are guilty of the charge(s) – often referred to as “the burden of proof”

• the defense (you and your representation) have the responsibility to make the jury find reasonable doubt with the charge(s)

• the cost of the trial and court costs will be pinned on the loser of the case and if it is you then sentencing and fines, fees will absorb those costs, separate from any restitution or damages to other parties of your crime

You will be given specific instructions on when to arrive at the Orange County Justice Center and where to check in for your trial.  Plan on appearing every day necessary as the defendant. 

This final segment summarizes the options for persons arrested or incarcerated in Orange County.   It focuses on the punishment phase of “guilty” by plea or by trial for certain crimes.

If you have been arrested for the first or second time on charges of Assault, DUI, Disorderly Conduct, Possession of Controlled Substances or Domestic Violence take some time to examine the charges from a more scientific perspective.  This is a suggestion because that is how the judge and your attorney will look at the situation.

You can spend the entire process being angry, but that is of no use in the long term.  In the world of court systems, all of the attitude you can muster will fall on deaf ears, so best to consider a disposition of humility through your process.

Here are examples of how you need to look at yourself and why:

• alcohol related charge, was this a one time thing or was this the one time you were caught? – alcoholism is a dual-condition illness (as of 1991) that means it is both a psychiatric and medical condition, diagnosis is of the problem is viewed as a disability and entitles you to disability benefits and treatment
• assault or domestic violence, was the action triggered by PTSD from active military service or from some other trauma or a reaction from drug or alcohol addiction? – a clinical diagnosis is a requirement but it is considered a disability that entitles you to disability (VA or other) benefits and treatment, it is not limited to military service as other violent crisis incidents can bring about the PTSD condition
• possession of controlled substances – are you a casual user or habitual user or were you transporting marijuana for someone in need of medicinal use? – whatever your answer is, remember you were or will be tested to determine your use, addiction to certain products (opiates, methamphetamine) is considered a disability that entitles you to benefits and treatment, marijuana is a treatment but the argument is not over
• disorderly conduct - was the situational behavior a result of any of the above conditions or were you just a jerk? – there is no cure for being a jerk, hence no psychiatric or medical definition, but there are clinical definitions for mental illness types and a long history of such behavior might qualify you for testing

Regardless of how you perceive treatment programs (12-steps, group sessions, etc.) for any of the conditions identified, willing search for these are programs indicate that you are willing to take the effort to change your condition.   The Orange County Court does recognize that certain charges are a result of medical or psychiatric conditions that need to be addressed.  Counseling and sponsorship might actually be what you need.

Participation in a program through a Justice Center may qualify to reduce the charge, reduce the jail time required or help cleanup your record.  

Collaborative Courts

Orange County offers specialized programs for qualified candidates who are first time offenders who maintain a level of stability within the community and a desire to move on or a sense of remorse about their arrest.  Just like all the other phases of the Justice System, you are required to appear for meetings, sessions, testing (in the case of alcohol and substance) and assigned appointments with the penalty of washing-out of the program and returning to standard sentence.

Consult your public defender or your attorney, as there are applications for specific court managed programs for all of the issues mentioned earlier and a series of forms for cleaning up your record after a successful graduation from a court program.  The court may permit your participation in an accredited program elsewhere in Orange County or through Veteran’s Administration, but the key word is participation.  Signing up and not attending is not an option; signing up and graduating is acceptable to the court.

Collaborative Court options are available for:

              Drug and Substance

              DUI

              Recovery – requires specific clinical diagnosis of mental illness

              Veterans

Private programs and centers available in the region (private but covered under most insurance) for addiction, alcohol, anger management, PTSD, and Recovery need to be reviewed and approved by the court if they are intended to substitute for a collaborative court sentencing option, but you will probably carry mandatory check-in process with the Justice Center to verify progress. 

Notes on Addiction

For anyone wanting to know the best and worst of their habits and how long it takes to drive them out of your life, here’s an acceptable street timetable of what to expect stopping any of these “cold turkey:”

Alcohol – 4 days to exit system – accentuated by DTs (tremors), profuse perspiration, anxiety and hostility, dehydration, increased appetite – what’s left of your liver doesn’t know what to do and sends ongoing requests to your body for a re-up.   Because drinking alcohol is socially tolerable it becomes problematic in social interactions and requires a lifetime of discipline to overcome.  This is why programs like AA and other triangle organizations offer daily meetings to suit just about anyone’s schedule. 

Methamphetamine – 2 days to exit system – crashing, hostility and depression, no thought beyond getting high again or acute focus on collecting or moving absolutely useless things from one place to another in anticipation of next fix.   Prolonged use rewires neuro-receptors for pleasure and makes nothing else feel as good, dehydration and cravings for vitamins from not eating.  As a result of dehydration, depletion of nutrients and intense nervous movement, you destroy bone density, teeth, and the body’s natural defenses from just about everything.  Ages the entire body for every binge. 

Opiates– 6 to 10 days – physical illness, profuse perspiration and discomfort, anxiety and hostility and depression, pain (from all the places for which a opiate based drug may have been originally prescribed), no appetite change.  For each type of opiate, the days shown below are for the days that the effects of the product remain in your system:

              Heroin (iv users) – 7 days, loss of bodily function control, painful withdrawal

              Oxycodone – 7 days, same as H, invest in adult diapers

              Vicodin – 6 days, tremors and cramping due to body systems going without

Seeking Substitutes is a common problem with addictive behavior, meaning that you pick up another habit to fill the void of the former (co-dependency).  Don’t develop or perpetuate another habit to replace your loss.   Marijuana (with or without an appropriate medical prescription) and standard over-the-counter tobacco are easy addictions to acquire or increase.  As tough as it sounds, the most powerful addictive substance available on the open market is tobacco and it is used-abused in hand with the above-mentioned problems. 

Nicotine – 27 days to a month to exit system – accentuated by anxiety and hostility, increased appetite, sensory input, and stress cravings.  Rewires neuro-receptors for alertness and pleasure and is closely aligned with personal behavior whether or not you have limited yourself to smoking outside.   The hazardous health effects are widely known.  This is another socially tolerable habit, but unlike alcohol, it has been phased out of the popular mainstream by laws and taxes that have reduced advertising and use.  It remains problematic and requires a lifetime of discipline to overcome. 

Marijuana – 21 days for psychoactive elements (THC) to exit system – not as addictive of a product but can be seen as a violation of sobriety on certain tests, and will be visible on test samples.  Under medical prescription it can substitute for certain types of pain medication where opiates were previously used. 

Health Insurance Coverage

Most primary health carriers and even assigned carriers through general health insurance cover some form of substance abuse treatment.  Check your policy with your health insurance carrier.  Corporate provided insurance have controlled plans that cover the amounts of rehabilitation services.  These amounts may be granted on an annual basis or aggregate for the term of your insurance (with a cap amount per individual covered by the plan). 

Nothing about an arrest truly resolves quickly because people don’t live in episodes of one-to-two hours, highlighted by ads for new cars and fast food.   Rest easy knowing that several thousands of people and more families than will admit have endured similar problems – with arrests, with physical and substance abuse, and with far more.  If you are facing serious charges that can disrupt family and change the plotline of your life then ask the most important question:  What more can I possibly lose by not participating in some form of rehab?

Disclaimer:

The opinions and ideas contained in this article and the others on this site are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.  Any opinions expressed here are the opinions of the author and may not be of the opinions reflected by Mr Nice Guy Bail Bonds, Inc.

* Efficiency, Timeliness, and Quality: A New Perspective from Nine Criminal Trial Courts, Ostrom and Hanson and National Center for State Courts, 1999