Being investigated or waiting for your Preliminary Hearing? Don’t delay! Natasha may be able to get your charges reduced or avoid you being prosecuted altogether.
If you are being investigated or have not been formally charged yet, a seasoned attorney like Natasha can make a big difference in what happens to you. A lot of attorneys do not want to get involved at this stage because they want you to be formally charged so they can make more money off of you. Natasha’s goal is to try to convince the reviewing prosecutor to see the defense’s side and not charge you as harshly or decline to prosecute you altogether.
Pima County is a Grand Jury County which means almost all cases being considered for felony charges are presented to a grand jury which decides if probable cause for an indictment exists. The grand jury presentment is a closed proceeding. In other words, the defense is not allowed in the room.
A prosecutor can take a case before the grand jury before an arrest is even made. If the grand jury returns an indictment then a warrant is issued for whomever the defendant is. More often, a person is arrested and seen by a judge within 24 hours. If felony charges are being contemplated, then a Preliminary Hearing is scheduled within 20 days. During that 20 days the issuing prosecutor will meet with the detective on the case and decide if the case should be prosecuted. The prosecutor will either decide to move forward on felony charges, reduce the charges to misdemeanors, dismiss the case pending further investigation or dismiss the case for lack of sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a crime was committed.
Natasha’s efforts pre-indictment have helped numerous people. She has successfully had double first degree murder charges reduced to manslaughter charges, child molestation and abuse cases declined to be prosecuted, aggravated assault charges reduced to misdemeanors, just to name a few. There is no question that hiring an experienced and fast-acting attorney in the earliest stages of your case can make a huge difference.