The punishment for a felony crime is usually:

  • a year or more in state prison, or
  • a death sentence

Examples of felony violations are:

  • murder
  • possession of dangerous drugs for sale
  • robbery
  • rape

Felony cases are usually processed like this:

  1. Arrest
  2. Arraignment
  3. Preliminary Hearing
  4. Jury Trial or Court Trial
  1. Arrest


    Then, one of 3 things happens:
    • The jail lets the defendant out without filing charges, or
    • The defendant stays in jail. Law enforcement officers transport the defendant to the court for arraignment.
  2. Arraignment

    The arraignment is the first time the defendant appears in court.

    A judge (or judicial officer) tells the defendant:
    • what the charges are,
    • about his/her constitutional rights, and
    • that if s/he doesn’t have enough money to hire a lawyer, the court will appoint one.


    Here's what the pleas mean:



    In some cases, the judge will let the defendant out of jail on his/her "Own Recognizance".


  3. Preliminary Hearing

    At the preliminary hearing, the judge will decide if there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to "hold the defendant over" for trial.

    If the judge holds the defendant "to answer," the prosecutor will file a document called the Information. Then, the defendant will be arraigned on the Information. At that time, the defendant will enter a plea and proceed to trial.
  4. Jury Trial or Court Trial

    Jury Trial

    The law says how soon a defendant charged with a felony must be brought to trial. (See Section 1382 of the Penal Code .)

    The prosecutor must file the Information within 15 days of the date the defendant was "held to answer" at the preliminary hearing.


    The defendant can “waive” the right to a speedy trial (called a waiver or "waives time"). This means s/he agrees to have the trial after the 60-day period.




    If the defendant doesn’t agree with the guilty verdict, s/he can appeal to the District Court of Appeals (or State Supreme Court if it is a death penalty case).

    Court Trial

    Sometimes, defendants agree to have a court trial instead of a jury trial. This means a judge, and not a jury, hears the evidence and arguments and decides if the defendant is guilty or not guilty.
© 2016 Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara