WHAT IS A CLERK MAGISTRATE HEARING AND WHEN ARE YOU ENTITLED TO ONE?
In Massachusetts if a person is accused of a crime,
either by way of a civilian signed application for a
complaint or a police officer’s report and application for
complaint, as long as the charges are misdemeanors and
you have not been arrested, you are entitled to such a
curtsey. Although you are not guaranteed the right to
counsel for a clerk hearing, you are entitled to hire your
own lawyer to defend you. Doing so is crucial. Why? It is
just that if you fail to persuade the magistrate to see it
your way, and not find probable cause that you broke
the law, then you are going to criminal court. Going to criminal court means that there will be an arraignment
and you will ipso facto have this allegation as part of
your record, no matter how it turns out, guilty, not
guilty, pretrial probation, continued without a finding or
dismissed. Having no record is obviously a better
choice. Going to a clerk’s hearing with counsel prepared
to defend you, educated in the tactics to get the job done
right is worth your money. It is a lot more expensive to
have a criminal case, especially if you think about the
time spent in court, the humiliation, the attorney fees,
the court fines and fees, probation payments and even
jail. Then there are the collateral consequences of
having a conviction, which include, but are not limited
to housing loss, job loss, educational issues,
immigration consequences and limits on your travel
liberty. Did you know that people on probation are not
allowed to leave the state without express permission
from the Court? And getting said permission is not a
given. Having a criminal case is a big problem! I am not
saying that retaining counsel for a magistrate hearing is
a guarantee that the case will get kicked out. However, it
is the first step to giving the matter your best effort. All
the magistrate needs to find in order to send the matter
up for arraignment is probable cause that you broke the
law. Probable cause is basically a 50:50 percent chance
you did it. That is a low low threshold that any clerk has
very very little trouble establishing. If it is one person’s
word against another, they often just send it up to Court
to be sorted out there by a judge or jury. Hiring an attorney with the knowledge and experience of
defending the accused at clerk magistrate hearings in
Massachusetts is a smart investment and an intelligent
decision you are unlikely to regret. Call me if you want
to learn more about the topic.