Prosecutors Desk 1-16-11 – A typical week for the prosecutor

A typical week for the prosecutor’s office involves court appearances at several different kinds of dockets, contact with Law Enforcement, and preparation of cases for court and for upcoming trials.

Monday morning is the Infraction docket in District Court. These are civil traffic tickets. Speeding and other moving violations are heard by Judge Tviet. Our office tries to resolve these tickets with non-moving violations for a little more money and other resolutions, but some must be heard and the Judge makes a decision whether or not they were committed.

Also on Monday morning as it is every morning at 11 am, prisoners make their first appearance before a Judge. Usually this is before Judge Tviet. The court makes sure the defendant knows what is going on and makes a decision as to whether probable cause exists for the arrest and a bond is set.

Monday afternoon in District court is the arraignment docket. These are court appearances for the purpose of making sure the defendant has an attorney that he/she knows what the charges are and an initial plea is entered. Usually not guilty is entered and pre-trial conditions set.

On Tuesday and Wednesday morning and afternoon are separate dockets with different public defenders. Cases are either resolved with a plea or continued or in some cases dismissed. Victims are present in domestic violence cases and the court is advised of the progress of the cases.

In Superior Court on Tuesday is usually the criminal docket. Felony cases are called one by one. Some are just in the beginning stages of arraignment. Others are in the middle stages of getting dates set and the court making rulings on motions that need to be addressed. Some cases are resolved and some continued. There may be motions for bail reduction, review hearings and various other procedural steps which may be dealt with. This docket may extend over into Wednesday if there is not enough time on Tuesday.

On Thursday is Juvenile Court in Superior court and the civil docket in District Court. On Friday, there is the conflict docket in District Court. This is when a visiting judge comes to hear cases that cannot be heard by the regular judge. This occurs about once per month.

Once a month there is a trial week in District Court and every other month there are two weeks scheduled for trials in Superior Court.

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