Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Arraignment

You do have the right to an attorney at the arraignment. If bail is set then it can be posted immediately. You will, however have to be processed out of the jail which will take a couple of hours. It would be best to have a bondsman at the arraignment if possible.

Re: Arraignment

You have right to counsel at every step of the proceedings, and if you are asking these questions, you clearly need an attorney to protect your rights and provide the best defense you can muster. Contact me if interested. Once bail is posted, release paperwork takes very little time.

Re: Arraignment

You ask if you have the right to a "private attorney" at the arraignment. The answer is that you can bring a private attorney to any criminal proceeding, but a private attorney has to be paid.

If you can't afford a private attorney you have the right to an attorney appointed by the court at no cost to you. Here in California, the appointed attorney is unlikely to be "private"; instead, you will most likely get a public defender ("PD").

The only reason your lawyer wouldn't be a PD is if the PD's office has a conflict in your case. In some places this would result in a private attorney being appointed for you, but most large California counties have an alternate PD office to handle such conflicts. Some large counties also have a second alternate PD office in case the first alternate also has a conflict. Here in Los Angeles County -- where this question was submitted -- there are several layers of alternate PD offices, so the courts seldom need to appoint private counsel.

You don't need an attorney in order to post bail, but you do need a bail bondsman unless you have enough cash to post the bail yourself.

Re: Arraignment

Thank you for your posting.

You do have a right to private attorney at arraignment, and the law is the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution (part of the bill of rights and related caselaw).

If at arraignment bail is set you can pay/post it after booking, either via cash, or through a bail bondsman, and if bail has been set now, you can even book yourself before court.

If you have a private attorney, you do not have to be at the arraignment if a misdemeanor, in most cases, (except domestic violence cases), and if a felony, you have to be there for almost all appearances.

As others have mentioned, a good bail bondsman, and a good attorney, might be able to guide you through this process and answer questions/educate you as you go.

I hope that this information helps, but if you want more information, have further questions, or feel that you need legal representation, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. It's my pleasure to assist you in any way that I can.