David Michael Cantor is a Phoenix Trial Lawyer and a Certified Criminal Law Specialist, per the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization. Plus, the firm is AV® rated (the highest possible rating ) by Martindale Hubbell®, and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers®, Criminal Law Section.

Initial Appearance / Arraignment

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”. (See definitions below).

Watch this short video where David explains Initial Appearance / Arraignment in Arizona:

At the “Arraignment” (which many times happens at the same time as the same time as the “Initial Appearance”), the Judge will detail the charges being levied against you. In addition to informing you of certain Constitutional rights, they will also discuss whether or not you are being represented by Private Counsel, or whether you need to have a Public Defender appointed to your case. Also, the Judge will then set the case to the next court date (usually a “Pretrial Conference”) and then your case will proceed from that point forward.

Four Types of Release:

Own Recognizance (OR): This 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 any 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: This 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 felonies which designates an amount of money that a person can post in order to be released prior to seeing a judge. 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.

Once DM Cantor, has been retained as your Phoenix Trial Attorney, we will attempt to set a “jail visit” with the Defendant as quickly as possible. If the Initial Appearance / Arraignment is coming up rapidly (and the Defendant is in custody), then our first visit will be just prior to the Court appearance. This will be conducted with the Defendant at the Jail before they appear in front of the Judge in “Jail Court”. We will have garnered all of the necessary information in order to fill out the proper “Release Questionnaire” prior to appearing before the Judge. Our number one (1) goal is to have a Defendant released from custody as quickly as possible. If our firm has been retained after the Initial Appearance, but before the Arraignment has taken place, then we will try to meet with the Defendant prior to the Arraignment date (if they are in custody). If the Hearing is coming up quickly, again, the first time we will meet the Defendant is just prior to the Arraignment (unless it is a “Video Arraignment” which only allows us to converse by way of closed circuit television between us, the Judge and the Defendant). We will then attempt to meet with the Defendant as quickly as possible after the Arraignment. If the Defendant is not in custody (in other words, they simply received a Summons in the mail) then obviously we will be standing next to them in Court when the Arraignment takes place.

Extradition Cases

Per statute, the other jurisdiction must pick up the Defendant within ninety (90) days, otherwise they will be released. In addition, the suspect may challenge all the allegations in the other jurisdiction’s charging document and force them to demonstrate probable cause that they should be charged in the first place. On the other hand, most people “waive” extradition and allow themselves to be voluntarily transferred to another jurisdiction.

If a Defendant does challenge Extradition, then we would require the other jurisdiction to submit a “Governor’s Warrant”. A Governor’s Warrant occurs when the Governor in the other jurisdiction reviews papers submitted by their own Prosecutor. Once the Governor’s Warrant is submitted to Arizona (along with supporting paperwork), then Arizona’s Governor would review the request and issue a “Warrant of Extradition” back to the original state. Once the Defendant receives this Warrant, he can then challenge the Warrant with a “Extradition Hearing.”

One of the challenges that can be made is an “Identity Hearing” which challenges the very identity of the person the other jurisdiction is seeking. For example, sometimes college roommates will use each other’s IDs to get into bars and, when an arrest occurs, they will simply “pretend” to be their roommate. The roommate may graduate and move on from college, only to be picked up in another state and accused of a past crime within Arizona. If it can be shown at the Identity Hearing that the fingerprint does not match the person in custody, then that person can be released.

As to challenging the Warrant on factual grounds (other than Identity), the method for this procedure would be “Habeas Corpus”. “Habeas Corpus” is a Latin term for “that you have the body”. A “Writ of Habeas Corpus” is a motion that 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 Habeas Corpus is denied, then the other jurisdiction will be notified and they can send their law enforcement agents to pick up and transfer the Defendant.

The most common type of extradition is between two (2) states (i.e., “Interstate Extradition”). Although the news sometimes features international extraditions (i.e., cases where a suspect is picked up in another country and then subsequently shipped to the U.S.), these situations are very rare. With Interstate Extradition, what normally has occurred is that the State of Arizona has issued a “Fugitive of Justice” Warrant for an outstanding felony charge, and then the Defendant has been picked up in a different state. Certain states have certain rules. For example, most states require Arizona to physically send an officer to come out and pick up the Defendant and transport them back to Arizona. If they do not do this within a certain amount of time (usually 30 days), then that State will simply release the suspect. If the crime is a “Major Felony” (i.e., a class 1, 2, or 3 felony), then they may actually send one of their officers to transport the Defendant back to Arizona. Sometimes this process can take quite a while. For example, we have seen cases where they will ship a Defendant back to Arizona by way of “hitching rides” with prison buses (which involves numerous layovers at various jails in various states). Sometimes this process can take two (2) weeks or more.

In many cases where we have been retained as your Phoenix Criminal Defense Attorney, we have been able to contact the state who is holding the Defendant and work with a Prosecutor to negotiate a “self-surrender.” What this means is the Prosecutor meets with their local Judge and agrees to have our client released from custody with a promise that they will appear in Arizona by a certain date. This allows our clients to make arrangements with work and family before traveling back to Arizona.