How the Criminal Justice System Works

In the criminal justice system there are three kinds of cases; felonies, misdemeanors and violations. They are handled differently, so it is important to know what kind of case it is.

Felony: This is a crime for which the maximum statutory sentence is more than a year. Some of the felony crimes we prosecute are murder, robbery, burglary, the delivery and manufacturing of drugs, sex offenses, aggravated assaults, thefts and fraud of more than $1,000, arson, car theft and major weapons offenses.

Misdemeanor: A misdemeanor is a crime for which the maximum statutory sentence is one year or less. Some of the crimes we see in this category are driving under the influence, shoplifting, assaults with minor injuries, property damage less than $1,000, resisting arrest, interfering with police officers, prostitution and minor weapon offenses.

Violations: These are offenses for which no jail time can be given. These include minor traffic offenses, possession of small quantities of marijuana, minor in possession of alcohol and misdemeanors that the district attorney declares as violations.

Felony Prosecutions

Normally, after a crime has been committed, the police get the first call. In many cases the police arrest the suspect and take that person to jail. The person will either stay in jail, post bail or be released on his or her recognizance. If no one is arrested, the police will continue their investigation and when it is complete they will send the report to the district attorney for possible presentation to the grand jury.

The district attorney's office will review the police reports and decide whether to issue either a felony or a misdemeanor charge, or not to issue any charge. Oftentimes when the district attorney no complaints a case there will be a request for a follow up investigation. Normally, once that investigation is complete, the case will be reviewed again.

For those cases where the defendant was arrested and a felony charge issued, the defendant will be arraigned the next judicial day. The charges will be read to the defendant and generally an attorney is appointed. The matter will be set over a short time (generally a week if the person is in custody) for the district attorney to present the matter to a grand jury.

In Oregon there are three ways to formally bring a felony charge; by presenting evidence to a grand jury and obtaining an indictment, by presenting evidence at a preliminary hearing and having a court find sufficient evidence to charge, or by the defendant waiving his rights and having the district attorney file a felony case. In Multnomah County we present all our felony cases to a grand jury.

The grand jury consists of seven jurors, who are picked from the normal jury panel. They generally sit for a month and hear hundreds of felony cases. They hear live witnesses and consider whether the state has presented sufficient evidence to bring felony charges. The proceeding is not public and neither the defendant nor the defense attorney is present. If the grand jury believes there is sufficient evidence to charge someone, they bring an indictment. This is not a trial, but rather it is the formal way we charge people with felonies.

Once an indictment has been brought the defendant is brought back to court, is arraigned (read the charges) and then is asked to plea either guilty or not guilty. As a practical matter everyone pleads not guilty regardless of the evidence. At the arraignment a trial date is set, which is generally in about 7 weeks.

After the arraignment, our office gives the defendant or his/her attorney discovery and often there are plea negotiations. If the victim has requested notification, we will tell the victim what the plea offer is and ask whether the victim agrees with it.

In Multnomah County, we have two call systems that are similar. The way our call systems work is that all the cases that have assigned trial dates for the next day are called on one docket. Most of the cases are reported "not ready" because one side is not ready for trial. Those cases are assigned a new call date and trial date, generally in about 3 weeks. Cases get set over approximately six times before going to trial due to availability of witnesses and the court's calendar availability. Some of the cases will be reported as "pleas." Those cases will be assigned out to a judge to take the plea. The remaining cases that are ready for trial will likely be sent out for trial the next day.

Misdemeanor Prosecutions

Like felonies, the police generally become involved in the case from the inception. See How Criminal Charges Are Filed which explains how misdemeanor cases are issued.

Once a defendant is charged and brought before a court the defendant is then arraigned. At the arraignment a plea is entered, an attorney is generally appointed and two court dates are given to the defendant; a pretrial date and a trial date. The pretrial is the time set to make sure that discovery is given and to discuss the possibility of a plea. The pretrial will be set out 29-35 days after the arraignment. All pretrials are set on Fridays. The trial will be set out 10-13 days after the pretrial.

Most pretrials are reset one or two times. The result is that the trial is also reset. At the final pretrial there is either a plea, or the assignment of the case to trial. When the case is sent out to trial from the pretrial it will be assigned the trial date it has previously been given.

Generally when a case is sent to trial there are several other trials sent to the same court for the same date. On the trial date the court meets with the parties to determine which cases are ready for trial. There are some cases that will plea on the date of trial, there will be some cases that are not ready because the witnesses do not appear and there will be some cases that are ready for trial. Generally there are more cases assigned to a particular court than the court has time to try. In that case the court will first try those cases where the defendant is in custody. The next priority will be those cases in which an interpreter is necessary, followed by the oldest cases. Unfortunately, because there are limited resources between the courts and our office about 1/3 of the cases have to be reset. Oftentimes these are the newer non-custody cases. A new court date will be given and the witnesses will be asked to come back.

Please remember that we try to keep you informed in advance but your patience and cooperation are essential. You need to keep us informed of your current telephone number and address.

The Trial

• Jury selection
• The trial will begin with opening statements by each side, beginning with the State.
• The state (prosecution) will first present its evidence, which may include your testimony.
• Then the defense will present its evidence.
• Attorneys on each side will have a chance to ask questions of each witness.
• The jury decides if the defendant is guilty or not guilty.
• If the jury cannot agree on a verdict (acquital), the case can be tried again.
• If the jury decides the defendant is guilty, the Judge, not the jury (except in aggravated murder cases) will impose the punishment or sentence.

Here is a general list of the subpoena numbers our felony units and times to call to find out about trials the next day:

Unit A (felony theft, fraud, car theft): 503-988-3385. Call after 4:00 p.m.
Unit B (felony drug cases): 503-988-5007. Call after 4:00 p.m.
Unit C & Gangs (Burglary, Robbery, Weapons, Gangs): 503-988-3287. Call after 11:00 a.m.
Unit D (Sex crimes and aggravated assaults): 503-988-5268 Call after 11:00 a.m.
MDT (Crimes against children in the home): 503-988-6091 Call after 11:00 a.m.
Domestic Violence : 503-988-3275 Call after 11:00 a.m.
Juvenile: 503-988-3472
Misdemeanor Intake: 503-988-83860