Criminal

General Sessions Charge

Below is a rough timeline of your process through the General Sessions Court.
General Sessions is the lower Court in Tennessee. It is effectively the County-level, but also often serves as the preliminary court for more serious crimes. Chances are, your charge will start here and then move to Circuit Criminal Court.

Please keep in mind that each case is unique and some of these steps may come out of order or may not apply to you at all. Finally, in cases involving more serious crimes, your matter may have been referred to the Grand Jury and skip General Sessions. If this is the case, this timeline doesn't apply.

Criminal Summons/Citation

This is before I am even involved. You will receive a document that you are being charged with a crime. The police will either bring it to you, let you know that it is available for pickup, or you will receive it when you are arrested for your charges.

This document will likely have your first court date on it, but will always have the specifics of what you have been chagred with. Make sure to send this to me before your initial consult, if you have it. If not, we'll get a copy.

First Appearance

Your first court date in most courts will not involve any hearings. If you have hired me, you won't even have to attend (buy please verify this with my office). I will enter my appearance on your behalf and get an actual hearing date.

If you have not retained an attorney, you will need to appear on this date. The judge will ask you how you want to plea (guilty or not guilty) and then ask if you plan to hire an attorney. While I always reccomend you hire an attorney, the Court will provide you with an attorney (with a small fee) if you are unable to afford one at this court date.

Negotiations Before Court

Not always, but sometimes it is important to discuss the details of your case and possible outcomes with the District Attorney's office before your Court date. We can sometimes work out a resolution to your matter before you even step foot in the courtroom doors.

Keep in mind that this doesn't happen each time and frequently the DA will have us wait until the day of Court so that they can speak with the arresting officer. Not a big deal.

Court Date

On the court date, you and approximately 50-100 other defendants will appear on the docket. Make sure to follow the instructions that I have given you about when to arrive, your attire, and what you cannot bring into the courtroom.

After the Judge calls through the docket (which can take as much as an hour and a half), your attorney will discuss the facts and merits of your case with the arresting officer and the district attorney to try to resolve your matter today.

If you were charged with a misdemeanor, you will likely receive an offer to resolve your matter on that day. This can range from a dismissal to a plea agreement, and everything in between.

If the officer or necessary witness doesn't show up in Court, the case will be continued to another day. If this happens on several dates where we were actually set for a hearing, then the case may be dismissed.

On this day, you and I will discuss numerous options on how to proceed: do you take a plea agreement, do you know more facts that I can use towards a dismissal, do we continue the case, do we apply you for pre-trial diversion, do we have a preliminary hearing, do we bind the matters over to the grand jury.

Option 1: Dismissal

Congratulations, you've beaten the odds and have proven your case. The State has agreed to not prosecute you for the alleged crime. You may still owe some amount of Court costs, so make sure to speak with me about that.

A dismissal does not mean that you are 100% free and clear, however. If you are charged with a very serious crime, the District Attorney can attempt to reintroduce your matter before the Grand Jury and proceed to Criminal Court. If you're concerned about this, please ask me for more details.

Option 2: "Bind Over"

"Binding a case over" means that we are sending the matter to be considered by the Grand Jury. This is either after a hearing or after we have opted to not have a hearing.

The Grand Jury -- an empaneled jury who determines if it is more likely than not that a crime was committed -- will then decide if your case continues to Circuit Criminal Court. It is possible, but very rare that they do not act on your case. It typically takes three no's from the Grand Jury for your case to be completely dismissed.

Option 3: Plea and Sentence

Typically if we come to a plea agreement in Sessions, it is because weigh the risks of proceeding and decide that the offer that has been made is a good mitigation of your risks.

Pleas in Sessions Court typically include reporting to probation and sometimes include a small amount of jail time. At the time of your consult, you will have discussed the likely outcomes of your charges with me, including if there is any possibility of jail time.

Make sure to heed my advice going forward: how to handle probation, what the consequences of violating your probation could be, and how to pay your court costs.

Option 4: Preliminary Hearing

Sometimes we choose to have a preliminary hearing before your matter is sent to the grand jury. This is not a guilt or innocence hearing. It simply is a determination that it is more likely than not that a crime occurred. While I've seen some charges get dismissed at this stage, it is very rare -- as the bar for the state is set very very low.

We can, however, put the officer or witness on the stand and get valuable information from them. Hearings are often not beneficial, however, in which case, we would simply bind over your matter.

Criminal Defense

Timelines

More than any other feedback I receive, clients tell me that they appreciate how dedicated I am to helping them understand the timeline and process of getting through their charges. Below, you'll find an example timeline for charges in General Sessions Court.

General Sessions Charge

Criminal Summons/Citation

First Appearance

Negotiations Before Court

Court Date

Option 1: Dismissal

Option 2: "Bind Over"

Option 3: Plea and Sentence

Option 4: Preliminary Hearing

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