Dumfries Gun Arraignments
During Dumfries gun arraignments, a person is advised of the charges against them, told that they have the right to a lawyer, and told their trial date. An experienced gun attorney can help you prepare for your initial court date if you have been charged with a firearm offense.
What are Firearm Initial Court Appearances?
Dumfries gun arraignments are the process by which a person is advised of the charges against them. Under most circumstances, a judge will not entertain the concept to setting a bond right then and there. The reason is because it is very rare that an attorney or the defendant will be present during an arraignment.
It is also rare that a Commonwealth attorney will be prepared to address the issue of bond because they typically occur the next morning after being arrested. Usually, they do not set a bond at an arraignment. It is possible, but not likely.
The best chance to get a bond set if the magistrate denies it is for a person’s attorney to file a bond motion with the court. They can do that as soon as they have been arraigned. That motion for bond can be heard the very next day.
Where Might Dumfries Gun Arraignments Take Place?
If a person has lived in Dumfries their entire life, it is considered much more likely that the person will appear for future court dates than would be a person who is simply passing through Virginia, has residence is in another state that is far away, and has no other ties to this particular community. It makes it less likely that they would appear, particularly because a person might think that if they leave state, they might just never have to come back and Virginia might not look for them.
If the person fails to appear and they live out of state, it becomes much more difficult for Virginia to track them down because Virginia law enforcement can only investigate things that are going on in Virginia. They cannot go to another state to try to track somebody down.
What is Considered Flight Risk?
A flight risk is a person who is deemed by the court or the magistrate to be less likely than others to appear for future court dates. Some of the variables that they look at in determining whether or not a person is flight risk is whether that person has ties to the community in which they are charged.
How Being Considered Dangerous Could Impact Penalties
There are two factors that the court has to consider when determining whether or not to set a bond for a person in Dumfries gun arraignments. The first is whether or not they are a risk of flight, meaning are they more or less likely to appear for future court dates.
Perhaps the most relevant inquiry in cases where people are charged with gun crimes is whether or not the thing with which they are charged makes them a danger to society. This may depend on the specific facts of a person’s case and whether or not those facts would lead a judge to determine that they might be a danger.
If the person is charged with shooting a gun into a crowd or shooting at a person specifically, the judge is going to find that they are a danger to other people. If a person is simply charged with a technical violation of concealed weapons or an inadvertent misstatement on a request to purchase a gun or a background check form to purchase a gun, an argument could be made quite convincingly that the person is not a danger to the public.
Likelihood of Bond in Firearm Cases
There are two opportunities to get a bond in Virginia. The first being the initial arrest itself when facing the magistrate to get charged. At that time, the magistrate will determine whether or not a person should be given a bond and if they will be able to post and release as soon as possible. If the magistrate declines to set a bond or sets a bond that is too high for a person to make, then they will be held in jail and in court usually the next morning for Dumfries gun arraignments.
