Do you have to be charged or arrested before your court date?

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xvelvet_tearsx

New member
A friend of mine had to go to court. He does not know why. His lawyer, which he hired a month earlier for another charge, which he has plead not guilty to, advised him to sign a continuance. His lawyer seems to think there will be other charges. Why did he have to sign a continuance for court proceedings and hasn't been charged or arrested?
 
doesn't make sense. if summoned to court the documents would list the reason.

first comes arraignment, a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her.
 
You don't have to be arrested, but charges do need to be filed by the District Attorney first. If your friend had appeared at his first court date, it would have been an arraignment. This is where he is advised of the charge against him and given a date for his next court appearance.
What likely happened here is that his attorney spoke with the D.A. and was advised that other charges might be pending. If your friend had been arraigned on the first charge and more charges were filed later, he would have to re-arraigned to include the new charges. His lawyer is just saving him the trouble of being re-arraigned a second time.
 
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