Plea Bargains Are Offered during This Phase
Video Transcribed: So what is the process of being convicted of a crime, part two? Hi, I am Ty Smith. I am an attorney in Oklahoma City.
Last time we left off at the initial appearance and the arraignment. The next step after that is going to be what’s called the preliminary hearing conference. At this point, you will have hired an attorney and that attorney is going to show… Or you’ll have a public defender, of course, but at that point, your attorney is going to show up at this conference with the prosecutor and they’re going to discuss your case.
The prosecutor’s going to offer plea bargains. If he pleads guilty, instead of sentencing him or asking for 25 years, we’ll cut it to 10 or something like that. Okay? We won’t ask for the max, we’ll ask for the minimum, but that’s what we’ll talk about, typically.
If you accept whatever the plea deal is there, then it’s done, it’s over with. The judge will set a date for you to enter that guilty plea and you’ll show up, and then the judge will issue whatever punishment that you’ve accepted at that point. If not, then if it’s a felony, then we’re set for a preliminary hearing, which is the next step as we flow on into this.
Preliminary hearings really only happen if you’re charged with a felony, and this is more for the attorneys because, at this point, your defense attorney and the prosecutor are there, and the state, the prosecutor, and the DA are attempting to show that they got enough evidence to at least take this to trial. They don’t have to show everything, they just have to show the judge that they have enough on you, they have enough evidence against you to at least take it to trial and to attempt to show that you’re guilty.
If they have enough, we take it to trial. If they don’t, though, the case is dismissed and we all go home. And this will… Witnesses testify. And as I said, this is… It looks almost like a bit of a trial. It’s a hearing though, obviously, so it’s a bit of a baby trial.
Up next, we’re going to talk about the pretrial docket, and what that looks like, but that’ll be in part three. If you have any questions for an Oklahoma criminal defense attorney, reach out to us online at theoklahomacityattorney.com.
