Darien Disorderly Conduct Court Dates

Following a disorderly conduct arrest, individuals are typically brought into the local police department, where they may wait until the magistrate gives them a date for arraignment. At the arraignment, an individual is told about the charges against them. It is instrumental to retain the services of an attorney at that point. If you have been charged with disorderly conduct, speak with a skilled disorderly conduct lawyer who can answer questions you may have about Darien disorderly conduct court dates and advocate for you.

Why Does Receiving a Court Date in Darien Take So Long?

Stamford court takes a long time with domestic violence arraignments because the court does not receive the police report until the day of the arraignment. Since the Family Relations Office, the state’s attorney, the bail commissioner, the victim advocate, and the defense attorney all make arguments to the judge, they all need to review that police report that does not get to court until the morning of the arraignment.

First, it has to be circulated through court. Then it needs to be reviewed, follow-up questions need to be asked, and interviews may be conducted. Essentially, the Family Relations interview does not occur until after the Family Relations officer is given the opportunity to review the police report. A person has to go to court at 9:00 a.m. for their arraignment, but the Family Relations officer might not review the police report until 10:30 a.m. Then the person has to wait for the interview and for everyone to make their own assessment of the police report before they can go to court.

Arraignment Dockets are Heard Later

The other reason why it takes so long for Darien disorderly conduct court dates and any arraignment, in general, is because normal cases are heard first in the courtroom. A normal case is a case that is down for a second or a third time. It is not just a first time down, it is anyone who is applying for a program, who has been in a program, and etcetera. Arraignments have to wait until those are handled before the court will start on the arraignment docket.

Basically, a person is waiting for the Family Relations officer to meet with them, because they are waiting to review the police report that they do not receive until later in the morning. Then, they are waiting for the arraignment docket to be brought up Form 1-B. Once that happens, probably around 11:30 a.m., the case will be called.

The other issue is once the person’s case is called, it is 11:30 a.m. Sometimes there are a lot of cases ahead of the person, depending on if they are arrested on a holiday weekend or if there are a lot of people arrested on that night for whatever reason. Sometimes defendants for these domestic violence cases are coming back after the recess, which is at 2:00 p.m., and not getting out of court until 4:00 p.m. on some arraignment cases.

Preparing for Opposition from Victim Advocates

As a defense attorney, it is important to consider the complainant’s opinion in these cases, because if the defendant goes to court and asks for something that the complainant is opposed to, the judge is typically not going to oblige with what the defendant is looking for. It is important for attorneys to make sure that the alleged victim is taken care of in these cases because it helps the defendant case close quicker. Also, it typically helps modify the protective orders, as well.

A defense counsel would prepare for opposition from the complainant and try to look for holes in their story. Sometimes a person has not been victimized and has falsely accused a person, in order to punish the defendant or have a restrictive protective order against them. A disorderly conduct lawyer might submit proof that the defendant has been going to counseling and getting help for the issue that they had to show they are the victim’s advocate and not just asking to get them out of a protective order.

They are getting help through counseling and it is going to be different if the protective order is modified. There are a couple of different ways that an attorney can go around the victim’s advocate to try to help the person they are defending, but not discourage the complainant. A qualified lawyer could devote the time and resources necessary to ensure that individuals are ready for their Darien disorderly conduct court dates.

What is a Fernando Hearing?

A Fernando Hearing allows a defendant the right to challenge a protective order that is entered against that person. They have a constitutional right to challenge the protective order, so an attorney can have that hearing during the domestic violence arrest arraignment. This is a special evidentiary hearing that Connecticut domestic violence laws allow a person to have on their first appearance.

If the defendant does not invoke the right to this hearing on the first court date, they lose their right to do so. When a defendant goes in without an attorney, they typically do not reserve it, because they do not know any better. They lose their right to challenge the protective order are stuck with that protective order for the duration of their case, which can be up to two years.

Importance of Having a Darien Disorderly Conduct Attorney at Arraignment

Most of the time someone gets arrested and either spends the night in jail or has to go to court the next day. They are overwhelmed and they do not have time to get an attorney. They go into their Family Relations meeting alone and that is when they make the admissions that are detrimental to their case. It ends up hurting their case in the long run. If a person has an attorney going into that meeting with them, it helps to make sure that the person is not saying anything that is going to harm them in the future. If a person has been charged with disorderly conduct and wants to know more about Darien disorderly conduct court dates, they should retain the services of a skilled attorney that guide them through the court process.