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Call Now, Open 24/7
(602) 307-0808
Call Now, Open 24/7
(602) 307-0808
Call Now, Open 24/7
By DM Cantor, a Top-Ranking Criminal Defense firm in Arizona for the last 6 years in a row by Ranking Arizona Magazine! (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
DM Cantor’s Board Certified Criminal Law Specialists (Left to Right) Managing Partner, Christine Whalin; Founding Partner, David Michael Cantor
Plus an additional 6,000 Case Dismissal and Reduction Case Victories!!
Beware: Any law firm or Attorney can have DM Cantor’s Phoenix Criminal Attorney website information rewritten by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and then they can post it online as their own “knowledge base.” But, they cannot falsely list our Jury Trial Complete Acquittals, or our Board Certifications, as their own. Also, many attorneys claim that they “specialize” in criminal defense, but only a “Board-Certified Criminal Law Specialist” is allowed by the State Bar of Arizona to use this title as their own, per the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization.
As of the start of 2025, the State Bar of Arizona Board of Legal Specialization listed only 62 Criminal Law Specialists in the entire State. Of these 62, only 41 are located in Maricopa County and are allowed to handle private cases. DM Cantor has 2 Board-Certified Criminal Law Specialists, no other law firm in Arizona has more. When defending Criminal Crimes Allegations, it is critical to have as many Board-Certified Criminal Law Specialists on your Legal Team as is possible.
The Specialization process is so rigorous that only 34 current Criminal Law Specialists were Certified since the turn of the Century! In addition, all Specialists must be approved for Re-Certification every 5 years. At DM Cantor, our 2 Board Certified Criminal Law Specialists have conducted Jury Trials on countless Criminal Crimes cases.
Every Major Felony Criminal Crimes case defended by DM Cantor includes at least 1 Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist on the legal team who is directly handling or supervising the Defense.
We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Felonies include any crimes which are potentially punishable with one year or more of prison in the Arizona State Department of Corrections or the Federal Bureau of Prisons. These usually include any drug offenses, any crime involving a serious physical injury or death, crimes which involve loss of property worth $250.00 or more, DUIs with a passenger under 15 years of age in the car, DUIs which are a third offense within 7 years, Any DUIs in which your license was currently suspended when stopped, and an assortment of other crimes which may or may not obviously be felonies. You know you have been charged with a felony if it states so in your complaint, indictment, or on the booking sheet which was handed to you upon your release from jail.
A Defendant is required to appear at each and every court date on felony cases. In very special circumstances, a defense attorney can appear on a Defendant’s behalf without the Defendant being present. Call us to find out if you qualify. The following list on the right hand side of this site lists all of the adult felony case stages involved in a felony case in chronological order.
The following information will be beneficial to those searching for information about Arrests, Complaints and Indictments:
Booked: Being “Booked” means you were taken down to the jail in order to be fingerprinted and photographed and placed into their “book”. Usually you are held until you are released by one of four methods. Three of the methods mandate that you have to see a judge (”Own Recognizance Release”, “Third Party Release”, “Pretrial Services Release”- see definitions below). The fourth method of release (”Bond”) can be accomplished by the officer telling you what your bond amount is according to a “Bonding Schedule”, or it can involve seeing a judge so the judge can set your bond amount.
Cite in lieu of detention (CLD): This is when the officer writes you a “Ticket” for an alleged offense and then has you sign the bottom promising to appear in court on a certain date. He then hands you the ticket and releases you (either to a cab, a third party, or simply on your own). The next date on the ticket is what is known as an “Initial Appearance”.
Arrest: Technically an arrest is whenever an officer has placed you in custody. This can be as simply as forcing you to remain at a certain location (i.e. you are not free to leave. Officers are allowed to keep you for minor “investigatory detentions,” which would include brief detentions in order to write you a ticket. However, for purposes for this definition, we will assume an arrest is when you have actually been handcuffed and taken to another location (be it the police station, a police van, or actually being booked into jail and held to see a judge).
Complaint: A “Complaint” or “Long Form Complaint” is a document the prosecutor prepares, which is a written statement of the facts that allegedly constitute an offense. It is a sworn statement submitted to a judge or magistrate. When the judge signs off on the complaint, a “Summons” is then issued. A summons can either be personally served or sent by certified mail. A summons will not be forwarded from a last known address. This means that if you have moved, the summons will be returned to the court and a “Warrant” will be issued for your arrest. Eventually, you will either be picked up by officers who show up at your new address, or more likely, you will be stopped several years down the road for a minor traffic violation and be hauled off to jail. At this point, an “Arrest” will have occurred and you will start the process by either posting a bond or seeing a judge. Long Form Complaints are usually reserved for less serious felonies (i.e., class 4, 5, or 6 felonies).
Indictment: An “Indictment” can only occur after a “Grand Jury” has met. A Grand Jury is simply a group of people which have been summonsed to appear to as grand jurors three days a week for a two to three month period. They hear roughly 30 different “stories” a day which are presented by a prosecutor, and they then decide whether to issue a “True Bill”. Once the True Bill has been signed, it has been determined that probable cause exists and an indictment will be issued. The indictment can either be served in person or by certified mail. This means that if you have moved, the summons will be returned to the court and a warrant will be issued for your arrest. Eventually, you will either be picked up by officers who show up at your new address, or more likely, you will be stopped several years down the road for a minor traffic violation and be hauled off to jail. At this point, an “Arrest” will have occurred and you will start the process by either posting a bond or seeing a judge. Indictments are usually reserved for only serious felonies (i.e., class 1, 2, or 3 felonies).
Being “Booked” into Jail means you were taken down to the jail in order to be fingerprinted and photographed and placed into their “book”. Usually you are held until you are released by one of four methods. Three of the methods mandate that you have to see a judge (”Own Recognizance Release”, Third Party Release”, Pretrial Services Release,”). The fourth method of release (”Bond”) can be accomplished by the officer telling you what your bond amount is according to a “Bonding Schedule”, or it can involve seeing a judge so the judge can set your bond amount. Click here to read more about the 4 types of release.
4th (Fourth) Avenue Jail – If you have a felony in the Phoenix Metro area you will end up here. Click here to learn more about the 4th Avenue Jail. Our offices are less than a half a mile from this jail so we can easily make a visit upon request. If you landed on this page and need to bail someone out of the 4th Avenue Jail, click here to read our how-to guide. The guide is full of information on how to post bond and where to go when you get the jail.
At the “Initial Appearance” the judge will: ascertain your true name and address; inform you of the charges against you; inform you of your various constitutional rights; consider any view or comments offered by the victim concerning the issues of Release (this usually occurs on assault and domestic violence cases); and determine your conditions of “Release”.
An “Arraignment” will occur either after a Preliminary Hearing has been “straight waived” and the case has been sent up to Superior Court from Justice Court, or it will be conducted at the same time as the Initial Appearance (if a case has proceeded by way of Grand Jury Indictment). At the Arraignment (sometimes called a “Not Guilty Arraignment”), the judge will give a Defendant his next court date for a “Pretrial Conference” and he will inform the Defendant which permanent judge has been specifically assigned to his case. If the Court proceeding is an Initial Appearance/ Arraignment due to a Grand Jury Indictment, the judge will also determine conditions of “Release” at that point.
The following information will be beneficial to those searching for information about the Four Types of Release, including own recognizance or bond:
Own Recognizance (OR): Own recognizance is where the judge simply releases you on a promise to appear at your next court date based upon the fact that you have established ties to the community and are not a risk to yourself or others. The judge will also look to see whether you have failed to appear for past court dates on other matters.
Third Party Release: This is where the judge releases you to a third party (usually your parents or spouse) with the promise that they will bring you to court. They will have to answer to the judge if you do not show up at one of your court dates.
Pretrial Services Release: This is normally seen only in felony cases. This involves the state’s agency monitoring you to make sure that you behave while you are out of custody and that you appear for all your court dates. This is similar to probation in that a surveillance officer could show up at your house at any time. If you are consuming alcohol, or have engaged in any illegal activities, they can inform the judge and have your release revoked immediately. Sometimes they will require you to wear an ankle monitoring device.
Bond: Bond is a method whereby the judge sets a certain dollar figure for you to post which will guarantee that you will appear at your next court date. If you fail to appear, the judge can then order a “Bond Forfeiture Hearing” to determine why the state should not be allowed to keep your money. Sometimes a “Bonding Schedule” is posted on simple misdemeanors which designate an amount of money that a person can post in order to be released prior to seeing a judge. It is usually about $500.00 on most misdemeanor charges. If a “bail bondsman” is used, usually a member of the Defendant’s family or a Defendant’s friend will contact the bonding agency. They need to give the bondsman approximately 10% of the bond amount, and then the bondsman will post the entire bond with the Court. The 10% which is given to the bondsman is their fee and will never be recovered by the Defendant. If a Defendant fails to appear in court, the bondsman will then send out a “bounty hunter” to track that person down and arrest them. They do this in order to make sure that the full bond amount is not forfeited by the judge at the bond forfeiture hearing.
Preliminary Hearings are rarely held. We will appear with you to review the State’s case and possibly challenge the probable cause for the “Complaint” with an actual hearing. If no “Plea Agreement” is reached, or no hearing is held, we then have the case sent from the Regional Court Center to the Downtown Superior Court (i.e., “Straight Waived”). The next court date will be a “Not Guilty Arraignment”, which are always held in either the Central Court Building or East Court Building located at 201 and 101 W. Jefferson in downtown Phoenix.
Sometimes Preliminary Hearings are “Scratched”. This just means that the prosecutor was unprepared to proceed that day and he has the ability to refile your case anywhere up to 7 years from the date of violation. Normally the case will be refiled within 6 to 9 months. When it is refiled, then the process starts all over again with an “Initial Appearance”.
Sometimes Preliminary Hearings are “Vacated”. This means that the State has decided to proceed by way of “Grand Jury” in order to determine probable cause to issue an “Indictment”. (See Indictment). They usually do this on the more serious felonies (class 1, 2, 3), and to avoid good defense attorneys from successfully challenging their probable cause in front of a Judge with a Preliminary Hearing. This normally will occur within several weeks after the court date has been vacated, although the prosecutor still has up to 7 years from the date of violation to do this. Once an indictment is handed down, then we will begin all over again with an “Initial Appearance”. If a Defendant is in custody, normally the indictment will be handed down within 10 days of the case being vacated. During this time period, the Defendant will still be held in custody pending the Grand Jury’s outcome.
The Pretrial Conference is held approximately every 30 days in court. This is where the judge makes sure that all discovery items (police reports, audio tapes, video tapes, blood and breath test results, etc.) have been turned over by the state to defense counsel. The judge also checks on the status of interviews and other matters that are necessary for the defense to prepare their case during the “discovery” phase of the case. On most simple felony cases, there will normally only be three to four pretrial conferences before all of the discovery is complete. A “Plea Agreement” is then relayed to the defense attorney in order for him to sit down with the Defendant to discuss their next step.
It is also during the Pretrial Conference phase that ongoing plea negotiations are held with the prosecutor and various motions can be filed (if factually based) by defense counsel. These can be: Motions to Dismiss based on numerous constitutional violations; Motions to Suppress evidence based on police misconduct; Deposition Motions to force witnesses to appear and give testimony; Motions to Compel documents to be released from police custody; etc.
Jury Trial: In felony cases, a “Jury Trial” is comprised of 8 jurors (your peers in the community) who will determine whether you are “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt”, “not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt”, or whether they are “hung” and cannot render a unanimous verdict. If the jury “hangs”, the state can: move to dismiss the charges; negotiate a new plea agreement with defense counsel; or they can retry the Defendant on the exact same charges as many times as they want until a verdict is rendered one way or the other. If your case involves a possibility of receiving 30 years or more in prison, then you will be entitled to a 12 member jury. If the jury does return a guilty verdict on one or more of the charges, then the judge will set the case over for a Sentencing date. It is important to remember that when the jury comes back with a guilty verdict, the judge will take you into custody immediately. You will then remain in custody for 30 days while the “Presentence Report” is prepared and then “Sentencing” will occur or the case will be set over to a Mitigation Hearing.
Bench Trial: You also have a right to do what is known as a “Bench Trial”, which is a trial directly to the judge. Normally, on felony cases you do not want to do this, unless your case has specific facts which may tend to anger a jury. Most judges have been around for a period of time where almost nothing will anger them or inflame their passions to a point which would prejudice you. They normally will view the law impartially and judge the facts in the same manner. In addition, they will not give an officer as much credibility as a jury would. They have seen the good officers along with the bad. Once again, it is important that you have an experienced and competent defense attorney to conduct your trial (i.e., DM Cantor).If the judge does return a guilty verdict on one or more of the charges, then he will set the case over for a “Sentencing” date. It is important to remember that when the judge comes back with a guilty verdict, he will take you into custody immediately. You will then remain in custody for 30 days while the “Presentence Report” is prepared and then Sentencing will occur or the case will be set over to a Mitigation Hearing.
If a Defendant has been sentenced and is now on probation and not in custody, he is expected to comply with all terms of his probation. Probation violations occur if he violates his probation (i.e., drinks alcohol; possesses a firearm; commits a new crime; fails urinalysis tests; or fails to appear when required, etc.) then the probation officer can file a “Petition to Revoke Probation”. In addition, the probation officer can issue an immediate “Warrant” for a Defendant’s arrest. The Defendant will be picked up and held “Non-Bondable” until the probation violation proceeding is finalized.
“Non-Bondable” means that no amount of money will get a Defendant released. The only way a Defendant can be released prior to the conclusion of the Probation Violation proceedings is to have the judge release him on his “Own Recognizance”. This is very rare, and requires a very skilled attorney to accomplish this.
The first court date is a “Probation Violation Arraignment”. The Defendant will either admit his violation, or set it over for a “Probation Violation Hearing”. Most probation violations are readily apparent and it is usually wise to admit the violation to speed along the proceeding. A skilled attorney will have already met with the probation officer and try to work out a “Probation Violation Disposition”. If this has occurred, then it is possible to have both the “Probation Violation Arraignment” and “Probation Violation Disposition” held at the exact same time. This usually will result in a Defendant being released and placed back onto probation or reset to “Intensive Probation.”
If a probation officer is being difficult, it is sometimes wise to admit to the least offensive technical violation (i.e., failure to appear at a certain time) and set the case over for a “Probation Violation Disposition.”
After a Probation Violation Arraignment is held (see Probation Violation Arraignment), and if no adequate disposition was agreed upon between the defense attorney and the probation officer, then a Probation Violation Hearing will be held. At this point, the prosecutor will bring in witnesses to testify as to exactly which terms of probation were violated. These Probation Violation Hearings are very difficult to win due to the fact that “hearsay” evidence is allowed. The probation officer can merely repeat what other people said occurred, which results in the violation. A skilled defense attorney can bring in witnesses to rebut any evidence that the probation officer may testify about. If it is found by the judge that there was no violation, a Defendant will be released immediately and placed back on his original terms of probation. If the judge finds that there was a probation violation, he will either hold the Probation Violation Disposition immediately, or he will set it over for another court date.
A Probation Violation Disposition is basically the equivalence to a “Sentencing” for a probation violation. At this point the judge has several options. He can “Revoke” the probation and sentence a Defendant to prison time based on the original sentencing range contained in the “Plea Agreement” or the sentencing ranges which were contained in the original “Sentencing.”
Another choice the judge has is to “Reinstate” a Defendant on probation for; (1) the exact same terms he was on; (2) increase the probation by adding additional terms, or (3) place the Defendant on “Intensive Probation”.
“Intensive Probation” (sometimes called “IPS”) is a much stricter form of probation. This requires a Defendant to remain home when he is not at work (i.e., house arrest) and he must call the surveillance officer when he leaves for work every morning, and again when he arrives to work. He must do the same thing when he leaves from work to head home, and upon arriving to his house after work. In addition, the surveillance officer will pop over to a Defendant’s house and work much more frequently than he would if the Defendant were on standard probation. When the surveillance officer appears, he can demand a urine sample on the spot or a breathe test to determine if any alcohol or drugs have been consumed. If the surveillance officer arrives and a Defendant is not home, refuses to allow the surveillance officer to enter the house, or refuses to provide a breath or urine test, then that can be grounds to file a Petition to Revoke Probation.
Appeal: A Defendant has fourteen (14) days from the date of their sentencing to file a “Notice of Appeal”. Also filed along with that is a “Designation of Record”. This will designate all of the documents and court reporter transcripts which will be necessary for the appeal. The higher court then issues a “Briefing Schedule” which gives time limits on when the “Appellant’s Brief” is to be filed. The State can file a “Respondent Brief,” and the Defendant gets the last word with a “Reply Brief”. The judge can either rule on the pleadings or he can set the Appeal to “Oral Argument”, where the defense attorney and prosecutor show up to argue the case. The judge will then issue his ruling. If that ruling is not satisfactory, the Defendant can then appeal to the next higher court. This can go all the way up to the United States Supreme Court before a final indisputable ruling is handed down (i.e., Gore v. Bush in the 2000 presidential election).
Post Conviction Relief Petition (PCR): If a Defendant feels that he had ineffective assistance of counsel (this usually occurs with public defender cases), or newly discovered evidence has been found which supports his innocence, he then can file a “Post Conviction Relief Petition”. The rules state that a Defendant has ninety (90) days from the date of “Sentencing” or thirty (30) days from the date of the last (final) appeal, to file a Post Conviction Relief Petition. If newly discovered evidence has been found, then a PCR can be filed any time. These are normally conducted on felony cases where people are serving long prison sentences. However, some people file a PCR even when they serve no prison time, to simply have this black mark removed from their record.
Habeas Corpus: “Habeas Corpus” is a Latin term for “that you have the body”. A Writ of Habeas Corpus is a motion which is filed most frequently to ensure that a Defendant’s imprisonment or detention is not illegal. It is sometimes used to test the legalities of an arrest or a commitment. It may also be used to obtain review of the regularity of an extradition process, the right to or amount of bail, and the jurisdiction of a court which has imposed a criminal sentence. Most often this is used in Federal Court. The State Court system has other devices which can accomplish the same purpose.
If a “Plea Agreement” (also known as a Plea Bargain) has been worked out between the defense attorney and the prosecutor for a lesser included offense, then a Change of Plea will occur. Normally this is set for a specific date. After a Plea Agreement has been entered into, the judge can decide whether he is going to “defer” acceptance of the plea until the “Sentencing” date, or accept the Plea Agreement (Plea Bargain) on the spot. The problem with accepting it on the spot is that the judge can then take you into custody right then and there. Normally we will “Defer Acceptance” of the plea until a “Presentence Report” is written up, in order to allow the judge to leave you out of custody for the next month or so. (See definition below).
If a Plea Agreement is not reached during the Pretrial Conference phases, a Defendant can then have his case set for trial either a “Jury Trial” or “Bench Trial”. A Jury Trial would be comprised of jurors from the community. A Bench Trial would involve doing the trial directly to the judge.
Immediately after a Change of Plea or Guilty Verdict after trial, a Defendant is to report to the Probation Department (within the same building) to meet with a “Presentence Report” writer. The Presentence Report writer will meet with you in jail if you are taken into custody after a Change of Plea or verdict of guilt after a trial. The Presentence Report writer will interview you and decide what to recommend as your “Sentence” to a judge. Of course, if you have specific terms listed in your Plea Agreement, the probation officer can only recommend that the judge does accept the plea, or reject the plea and either give you a lighter sentence, or a harsher sentence. It is always important to treat the Presentence Report writer with respect. Always discuss with your attorney what needs to be said prior to entering into that meeting.
“Sentencing” will usually occur 30 days after the “Change of Plea” or after a Guilty Verdict at trial. At this time, the “Presentence Report” will already have been prepared, and we will review that report with you. (See definition above). If it appears that the report is recommending a harsh sentence, and the prosecutor is also recommending a harsh sentence, then we will move for a “Mitigation Hearing” to be held roughly 30 days after that point. We will sit down with you and prepare a “Sentencing Memorandum” which will attempt to sway the judge to the lightest possible sentence within the Plea Agreement ranges or Sentencing ranges if you were found guilty after trial. Again, if you have a specified amount of time in your Plea Agreement (Plea Bargain), then this probably will not be necessary and the sentencing will proceed on the first Sentencing date without a Mitigation Hearing. Once again, it is important to have a good defense attorney who knows what he is doing who can read the judge (i.e., DM Cantor) to determine whether or not this Mitigation Hearing will be necessary.
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