Search Warrant - Procedure

[NevyNev]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CALIFORNIA....

On 07/24/09 I was served a search warrant and was arrested.... Bailed out 2 days later and was given an arraignment court date of 08/26/09.... At that arraignment the courts clerk called my name and asked me to step forward and informed me that the d.a. is still investigating my case and my next court date for arraignment is 10/19/09.... To my knowledge the d.a. hasn't filed yet....

?.... Is there a time limitation for filing charges....? 60 days? 90 days? 1 year? or is there no law in California as to when they must file charges after the search warrant and arrest....?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[garrula lingua]

As far as charging:
Up to a year to charge for a misdemeanor.

On felonies, it depends on the violation - but it'll be at least two years.


They'll resolve it sooner than the law requires charging (they'll want good memory for witnesses), and your rights to a speedy trial do not attach until you are arraigned.


If the wait is bothering you, the easiest way to speed things up, is to go to the police station and give them a full confession

 

[outonbail]

If you posted bail by going through a bondsman, you should speak to your attorney and have him inform the court that you do not want the bond exonerated until the time limit has run out for the DA to prosecute you.

The reason I suggest this is because if you go to court next month and the DA still hasn't filed the case, the judge may exonerate the bond and you will leave without being given another court date. The judge may tell you that if and when the case is filed, you will be notified.

The problem here is that once the bond is exonerated and the DA goes ahead and files the case, be it one day or one year subsequent to the bond being exonerated, you will then be arrested again, taken to jail and required to post a new bond. This means paying the bondsman another 10 to 15% fee for the amount of the bond.

So if your bail was lets say $50,000.00, then you would have paid $5,000.00 to a bondsman to secure your release. Now if you go to court on 10/19 and the bond is exonerated, but then the DA files the case on 10/20, you will need to pay a bondsman another $5,000.00 to be released from jail a second time.
If the bond remains in place and the DA files the case on 10/20, you will not be arrested again because you are already out on the standing bond.

The down side to doing this is that, should you be arrested again while you are out on bond, you will pick up another charge for committing a crime while out on bond. So you should consider these points and choose whether it's better for the bond to stand, or be exonerated if the DA hasn't filed by your next court date.