Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wisconsin

Re: adjourned initial appearence

The initial appearance is primarily for purposes of scheduling further procedings and setting bond in most counties (except for traffic matters in certain large counties). The court also must find that there is probable cause to subject the defendant to further procedings and bond, generally based solely upon the information in the complaint. There are many reasons why an adjurnment of the initial appearance might occur, the most common being to allow the defendant to obtain an attorney or because an interpreter was not available for a non-English speaking defendant. The initial appearance is a critical proceding for several reasons. One is that the right to object to the court's jurisdiction over the defendant can be accidently waived by a defendant who does not have an experienced criminal attorney. The other is that the court's decision on bond can result in the incarceration of a defendant who cannot post bond or otherwise satisfy condictions which are a prerequisite for release on bond.