Charged With Assault and Battery

firsttime_here · #1 12-17-2007, 03:06 AM

I know this girl since a month now and we are not in any relationship. She works with me at a store. This past saturday night, we were talking casually as a friends and we were at the a room in the back of our warehouse. I accidentally bumped on to her and she charged me with assault and battery charges.

she told the cops that i grabber her and tried to kiss. Unfortunately there are no witnesses when this whole incident happened. I was arrested by the cops and was put in a jail for 12 hours until my friends got bailed me out. I have now hired a lawyer and my pretrial is this week.

I have no past criminal record history, DUI or drugs etc and now i am very worried about this incident.

Now that there are no witnesses i am worried as how to prove myself not guilty...Please give me some advice and also tell me what are the chances of getting the charges dismissed. Thanks and god bless you!

Note - this happened in Michigan

cdwjava · #2 12-17-2007, 11:40 AM

The state has to prove guilt, you do not have to prove innocence. Your attorney can likely cast all manner of reasonable doubt on the case if it were to go to trial. Unless the state is able to locate witnesses that will corroborate similar past actions on your part (aggressive actions, forceful kisses, etc.) then the case is weak. Whether the state will pursue it or not is anyone's guess.

- Carl

firsttime_here · #3 12-21-2007, 01:43 PM

My attorney tells me that we will wait until the pretrial and has n't seen the police report yet. He is like, "lets wait untill the pretrial and if we dont get the police report before pretrial, we will get it at the pretrial".

I am very worried as I do not know the court process and i am not sure if i have hired the right attorney.

Can any one please confirm if this is normal and this is how it usually is?

Thanks

cdwjava · #4 12-21-2007, 01:50 PM

This doesn't sound unusual, no. Discovery is often not available until the first appearance - usually that is the arraignment where you are asked for a plea.

- Carl

firsttime_here · #5 12-21-2007, 02:01 PM

Thanks Carl... I was given a piece of paper when I got bailed out and the document says "Pre-trial". Am i missing some thing here?

P.S - I am very new to this country and have no idea about the court process etc.

cdwjava · #6 12-21-2007, 02:28 PM

Quoting firsttime_here

Thanks Carl... I was given a piece of paper when I got bailed out and the document says "Pre-trial". Am i missing some thing here?

P.S - I am very new to this country and have no idea about the court process etc.

The terms vary by state, but this "pre-trial" is likely what we would call "arraignment" in CA. This hearing will usually be where you will be assigned counsel if you don't have one, and you will be read the charges against you and asked for a plea.

- Carl

aaron · #7 12-21-2007, 02:48 PM

The pretrial follows arraignment. It is a scheduling hearing, where typically either a plea is entered or the matter is scheduled for trial.

cdwjava · #8 12-21-2007, 02:56 PM

We merge the two into one out here ... then, what do they do at the arraignment if there is no plea?

- Carl

firsttime_here · #9 12-21-2007, 03:16 PM

Thanks Aaron and Carl.

So considering this to be a pretrial session, is my attorney suggesting me rightly?

My attorney and I never had a one on one discussion on the case so far. We talked few times over phone and neither he nor I has the police complaint.

My attorney tells me that we will wait until the pretrial and has n't seen the police report yet. He is like, "lets wait untill the pretrial and if we dont get the police report before pretrial, we will get it at the pretrial".

Please help