Robert L. Shafer Criminal Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Last week I wrote in my Jacksonville criminal lawyer blog about the arrest phase of a criminal law case.  The next phase is the transmission of the case to a prosecutor.

Usually within hours after a bond hearing, your case is assigned to a prosecutor’s division. The prosecutor usually has a few days or weeks to evaluate the case and decide whether to pursue charges and, if so, decide what official charges to file (as opposed to arrest charges). Needless to say, this is usually the most important segment of a criminal case. Often a criminal defense attorney can persuade the State that charges should not be officially filed, or to file lesser charges than those first pressed by the police, significantly decreasing the problem you face.