What Happens At An Initial Appearance?

The initial appearance is the first court appearance in your case. You and I will go to court, usually in person, and appear in front of a judge during an initial appearance. The court will ask if you received a copy of the criminal complaint. The judge will make sure you understand the crimes you're charged with and the maximum penalty for each of those crimes. 

The court will also ask if we want to read the complaint out loud we usually wave reading in a misdemeanor case we also enter a plea at an initial appearance in 99.9% % of cases that plea is not guilty during an initial appearance we typically set the conditions of bond or pre-trial release and finally we set additional dates for more hearings in the future.