What is going to happen at my Initial Appearance Court date?

Many times, we get the question of: ‘What is an Initial Appearance?” In South Carolina, when an individual is arrested and charged with a General Sessions offense, or felony offense – a serious offense – they are given two so-called “court dates.”

The first court date is called an “Initial Appearance.” An Initial Appearance usually comes up several weeks after the person is released on bond and it creates a lot of confusion for some people. The Initial Appearance is really an appearance in Circuit Court [in Conway], but there’s no judge present. In other words, you’re not going to be arraigned, you’re not going to appear in front of a judge, or anything like that. You simply go to the courthouse and the prosecutor calls your name and asks you who your lawyer is.

If you don’t have a lawyer, then they recommend that you get a lawyer, or they ask you to apply for the Public Defender. If you do not appear for your Initial Appearance, then you’ve violated the conditions of your bond, and so an arrest warrant (called a Bench Warrant) is issued for your arrest, because now you’re considered a flight risk.

For people that have retained us, The Complete Legal Defense Team, we contact the prosecutor’s office and say that we represent you and get you excused from the Initial Appearance because there’s no reason for you to appear since you are represented and nothing’s going to happen at that so-called “hearing” anyway. That’s a step that we help you with if we’re representing you.

Complete Legal Defense Team
www.completelegaldefenseteam.com
843-279-2227
1012 38th Ave. N.
Myrtle Beach, SC
United States

Видео What is going to happen at my Initial Appearance Court date? канала Greg McCollum Complete Legal Defense Team