Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

No arraignment hearing / not on the docket for trial

My 17 year old son was charged with trespassing in a city park after dark. He was given a summons at the time to appear in J&D court for trial. When we arrived, he was not on the docket. We were directed to an administrative person who informed us that he should have been arraigned on the charge first, then a trial date set. They went further to say that the arresting officer made a mistake in directing him to go straight to trial and that we should contact the officer to see how we should proceed. The offense occurred on 01/08/2005. Is there any time frame limit from the arrest to when the arraignment hearing should occur? Should we just ask that the charge be dismissed based on this mistake?


Asked on 2/25/05, 2:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Fred Kaufman Fredrick S. Kaufman, Esquire

Re: No arraignment hearing / not on the docket for trial

There are speedy trial laws from arrest to arraignment - in juvenile law it is 120 days. If it were me I would do nothing to make sure the cop gets it right. I would let the time period run out if I could. The state has the length of time of the possible sentence to bring a charge from the date of the offense (in misdemeanors usually a maximum of 12 months).

If the charge is not tried within the 120 days then the charge must be dismissed with prejudice (meaning it cannot be brought back).

Good luck.

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Answered on 2/27/05, 8:59 am


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