Georgia Criminal Arraignments

Once the prosecutor files either an accusation or an indictment, that’s when court dates are going to start happening and they’re going to happen quickly. We’re going to have calendar calls and arraignments and other things, and each of those carry certain requirements. Some of them require you to have an attorney or the judge is making sure that you don’t want an attorney, which is never a good idea. Some of them, like when you have your arraignment, starts timelines of you either requesting discovery, which is all of the reports and videos, and it’s timelines for when you can file motions challenging the prosecutor’s evidence.

So it’s really important to have a good defense attorney that knows what they’re doing early on in the process to make sure you don’t miss any deadlines. It’s extremely important to have a defense attorney that’s not only good with the law, but knows everyone that’s going to be involved. I was a prosecutor for almost 10 years, and I spent almost four years here in Chatham County, practicing in front of all of the judges, both in superior court with felonies and misdemeanors in state court. All of them know me. I know what they look for. I know how to present evidence to them. I know how to best present our defense.