Arizona Criminal Law Team
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How Do You Get An Acquittal or a Dismissal On A Criminal Case?

A not guilty plea would obviously be delivered before either a bench or a jury trial. A case dismissal can happen either before trial or after what’s called a Rule 20 motion, which happens right after the State has presented its case. That’s a directed verdict from the court where basically the judge is saying, “Look, the prosecutor put on their case and there wasn’t enough evidence to convict you here.” Then the defense doesn’t have to present a case.

For me, I’d rather have a case dismissed prior to trial, because it’s preferable to not have to go to trial. Statistically speaking, defendants don’t fare well at trial; the state wins most of them. Therefore, getting a dismissal before trial is usually better.

Sometimes, a dismissal isn’t a good thing, however. Sometimes, prosecutors use case dismissals to buy themselves more time; they’ll simply dismiss the case and re-file. That confuses many defendants, who often think the dismissal means their case is done, which it isn’t.

A dismissal should happen for a valid reason. For example, I just had a case dismissed yesterday. I walked into a pretrial conference, obtained the police report and noticed that the stop was unconstitutional and spoke to the prosecutor, who is going to dismiss the case. That’s a legitimate dismissal because it’s based on the facts and legal issues in this case.

On the other hand, a couple of months ago a client’s blood wasn’t in, and the case was dismissed. The client was really excited, but I had to explain to her that it was going to be re-filed.

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A Cup Of Coffee With 10 Of
The Top DUI Attorneys In The
United States

Guest Author: Attorney Brian Sloan

A Cup Of Coffee With 10 Of The
Top criminal defense
Attorneys In The United States

Guest Author: Attorney Carmen Gosselin

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Arizona Criminal Law Team

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480-I-have-help
(480-442-8343)

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Disclaimer: The Attorneys on The Criminal Law Team are individual attorneys that have come together for group advertising. Hiring one of the Attorneys through the Arizona Criminal Law Team results in that one Attorney representing their client under their own law firm. A client would not get multiple Criminal Law Team lawyers representing them.

Any information provided on these pages does not establish an Attorney / Client Relationship. All information on this website should be considered an OPINION based on experience, and may not be the most updated information based on constant changes in the field of law.

  • Home
  • Areas of Practice
    • DUI Defense
      • DUI
      • Aggravated DUI In Arizona
      • Extreme DUI
      • Super Extreme DUI
    • Criminal Defense
      • Drug Offenses
      • Minor In Consumption
      • Assault
      • Theft
      • TRESPASSING CHARGES
      • Criminal Damage
      • Fraud
      • Vehicular Offenses
  • Areas We Serve
    • Tempe
    • Scottsdale
    • Mesa
    • Glendale
    • Gilbert
    • Chandler
  • Team Accomplishments
  • Awards & Recognitions
  • About Us
  • FAQs
    • Criminal Defense FAQ’s
    • DUI Defense FAQ’s
    • Drug Related DUI FAQ’s (Videos)
    • Criminal Defense FAQ’s (Videos)
  • Blog