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How Your Case Proceeds In general, a felony case in New Mexico will proceed in the following fashion: 1. Arrest; 2. Arraignment (Magistrate or Metropolitan Court). At your initial arraignment, you will be advised of the charges against you, and the arraigning judge will set your initial conditions of release, including your bail amount. At this point the State is under strict time limits to proceed to a Preliminary Hearing or conduct a Grand Jury proceeding. 3. Preliminary Hearing or Grand Jury proceeding. After you have been arraigned in the lower court, your case will be set for a Preliminary Hearing or Grand Jury proceeding. In a Preliminary Hearing, the State presents its case to the judge, and the judge must decide if there is probable cause for you to be prosecuted on felony charges. Your legal counsel is allowed to cross-examine the State’s witnesses, and to present a defense case. In the alternative, the State may initiate Grand Jury proceedings. At a Grand Jury hearing, the State presents its case to a 12 member Grand Jury panel, who then decides whether there is probable cause to indict you on felony charges. The defense in a Grand Jury hearing is much more limited than in a Preliminary Hearing. 4. Arraignment (District Court). If the State has been successful at your Preliminary Hearing or Grand Jury proceeding, you will then be arraigned in District Court. At your District Court arraignment, you will be formally advised of the charges against you, and asked to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. At this stage, you will enter a plea of not guilty, and the Court may once again consider your conditions of release, including your bail amount, which may be increased or decreased by the judge. 5. Discovery phase. During the discovery phase of your case, defense counsel investigates the allegations against you, receives all information from the State which is to be used at trial or is material to the preparation of the defense, and both sides conduct witness interviews. 6. Pre-Trial Conference and/or Pre-Trial Motions. While your case is pending, your attorney will file any pre-trial motions that are appropriate in your case. The Court may also schedule a pre-trial conference, where the judge and the attorneys will identify issues that need to be addressed prior to your trial setting. 7. Trial or Plea agreement. Depending on the facts of your case, you will make a decision whether to accept a plea agreement from the State, or to proceed to a jury or bench trial regarding your charges. 8. Pre-Sentence Report. If you have entered a plea or have been convicted, the Court may order that a pre-sentence report be conducted regarding the appropriate sentence in your case. You will be scheduled to meet with a probation officer, who will interview you and make recommendations, in writing, to the judge regarding the appropriate sentence. 9. Sentencing. |