Criminal Law
| Preliminary Criminal Proceedings |
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| After a defendant has been arrested and may have been released, he or she is required to appear for an arraignment. An arraignment is a court appearance in which defendant is brought before a judge or magistrate and apprised of the charges lodged against him or her. Ordinarily with respect to a misdemeanor offense, the defendant will only be arraigned once. However, with a felony offense, the defendant may be arraigned more than once if the offense is changed from the offense listed in the initial accusatory instrument. More... |
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| Overview of Prison Offenses |
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| Even after a defendant has been convicted and sentenced to a prison term, he may be charged, convicted, and sentenced again for any offenses committed while in prison. A prison is defined as a correctional or detention facility. Although states vary on the types of chargeable prison offenses, there are some general offenses both under numerous state laws and federal law. More... |
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| CRIMINAL INSTRUMENTS & TOOLS |
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| A person commits an offense if he or she possesses criminal instruments or tools with the intent to use the criminal instruments or tools in the commission of a crime. A person also commits the offense of criminal instruments and tools if he or she manufactures, sells, or adapts criminal instruments or tools, with the intent to use, to aid in the use, or to permit another person to use the criminal instruments or tools in the commission of a crime. More... |
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| VIOLATION OF A PROTECTIVE ORDER |
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| A person commits the offense of violation of a protective order when the protective order has been issued on behalf of a protected person and when he or she commits an act of family violence, when he or she communicates directly with the protected person or a member of the protected person's family, when he or she goes near the protected person's residence or employment, or when he or she possesses a firearm. More... |
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| RECORDS ON APPEAL |
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| In order for an appellant to prosecute an appeal, a record of a trial court's proceedings must be filed with an appellate court. The reason for the trial court's record is that the appellate court does not conduct an evidentiary hearing during an appeal. It does not take testimony or admit evidence. Its role is to examine the trial court's proceedings in accordance with the record in order to determine whether the trial court committed any errors. More... |
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