Navigating Court Forms in Jefferson County: Tips for Legal Professionals
Explore insights on accessing and utilizing court forms effectively in Jefferson County, including tips on locating forms, getting the right paperwork, deciding which forms to use based on the forum, and understanding the various specialty courts in the county.
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Perfect Paperwork for Perfect Paperwork for Hassle Free Pleas Hassle Free Pleas (no such thing (no such thing- -but we ll try!) but we ll try!) GBCDLA CLE: Thursday, October 28, 2021 Presented by: Texys Morris Jefferson County Public Defender s Office tmorris@jeffcodefender.org
Waitwere TRIAL lawyers. Why are we talking about pleas? The Death of the American Jury trial: The reality in BOTH criminal and civil cases "The overwhelming majority (90 to 95 percent) of cases result in plea bargaining. (Source: Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/plea_bargain, citing U.S. Department of Justice s Bureau of Justice Assistance) In criminal cases only 1-4% of cases ever reach a jury and in civil cases less than 1% ever do (Source: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/gpsolo/publica tions/gp_solo/2019/january-february/what-happened-american-jury/)
Brainstorm: Brainstorm: Reasons to Plea Reasons to Plea
Brainstorm: Steps to Brainstorm: Steps to take BEFORE the plea take BEFORE the plea
Lots of forms listed on Alacourt.gov (E-Forms - Alabama Administrative Office of Courts (alacourt.gov)) BUT most judges have their own preferred forms Packets for each courtroom (10thJudicial Circuit, Jefferson County Birmingham Division) posted on GBCDLA website In court- where to locate forms: MOST Judges have forms in front of the bench Judge Bell: the JA Jacquees keeps most of the forms by her desk- so ask her what you need Judge Ross- forms are back in meeting area in chambers on bookshelves Judge Jones- main plea packets are in front of bench but others are with JA Alicia Not all Judges have forms clearly marked in trays Pay attention to dates on form (see below) Getting the Right Getting the Right Paperwork Paperwork
Deciding Which Forms to Use: Deciding Which Forms to Use: What is the forum? What is the forum? SPECIALTY COURT DISTRICT COURT CIRCUIT COURT
Jefferson County uses a variety of specialty courts/pleas as alternative resolutions to cases. Application required: Specialty Court Pleas Mental Health Court (See Wallace- packet) Veteran s Court (See Attachment) Make sure you get permission from the Specialty Court Judge BEFORE cases are transferred No advance application needed: just agreement of State and Court Drug Court (See Fortune- packet) Theft Court (See Wallace and Pulliam- packets) Serenity/Misd. Theft Court (See Ross staff) DUI Deferred (See Bell- packet) DVIP (See Ross staff)
District Court District Court Special Considerations Special Considerations For Bench trial (misdemeanors) For Felonies Ross- plea forms.pdf Fill out waiver of Stipulation and Appeal OR Appeal verdict Ross- plea forms.pdf indictment Ross- plea forms.pdf
Circuit Court Circuit Court- - Special Considerations Special Considerations Felonies- fill out waiver of arraignment Most judges require this at the first CC PT setting EVEN if going to turn around and plead Actual arraignment generally only in Capital Cases ***DO NOT fill out if applying for YO (can t apply for YO after have done regular waiver) Most judges require this at the first CC PT setting EVEN if going to turn around and plead Actual arraignment generally only in Capital Cases ***DO NOT fill out if applying for YO (can t apply for YO after have done regular waiver) Global Offer: If taking a plea on both CC and DC case #s IF DC case is still in district court- get case transferred to CC If done this way- no CC case # is needed ***Get approval from your CC judge before asking JA of DC to transfer IF DC case is PGJ- have to get CC case # created Usually the JA will handle this but you will need to notify them in advance Some Judges (like Judge Wallace) will ask attorneys to fill out form (see the Judge s JA)
Plea Agreement (accepted or rejected): Felony Pleas: Basic Paperwork - Courts use slightly different forms- GENERALLY the State will fill out but sometimes Defense Exhibit A: (Different Forms used) Exhibit B: (Generally one standard form) * All case #s even for dismissed cases should go on this, to show part of plea agreement C: C:\ \Users Users\ \texys.morris texys.morris\ \Desktop Desktop\ \pr pr ofessional organizations ofessional organizations\ \GBCDLA Felony plea packet.pdf Felony plea packet.pdf GBCDLA\ \sample sample Order of Probation - Some use Court Order Probation Services Form AND Order of Probation
Deciding Which Forms to Use: Exhibit A for Presumptive Guidelines Forms from alacourt.gov (on previous slides for HOA, after 2016)- apply to HOA AND Guidelines BUT most of our judges still use separate guidelines paperwork Alabama Sentencing Commission: Presumptive Sentencing Standards For offenses sentenced on or after Oct. 1, 2013 explanation-of- rights-and-plea-of-guilty.pdf (alacourt.gov) (For Voluntary Guidelines: most judges don t seem to have separate form, instead write voluntary on presumptive form)
Deciding Which Forms to Use: Exhibit A for HOA Look at date of offense to find correct form Look at Client s prior Crim. Hx: Habitual or Non-habitual NOTE: Prior Class D felonies do NOT count for HOA Habitual (for Felony Offenses only): On or after June 1, 2006 but before January 30, 2016: Microsoft Word - CR-52 _Rev 9-2012_.doc (alacourt.gov) January 30, 2016- to present: (note NOT all judges make this differentiation) One for Class A,B,C felonies explanation-of-rights-and-plea-of-guilty-on-or-after-january-30-2016.pdf (alacourt.gov) One for Class D felonies explanation-of-rights-and-plea-of-guilty-on-or-after-january-30-2016-class-d- felonies.pdf (alacourt.gov) NOTE: the ones from alacourt.gov combine HOA/presumptive (not generally what our judges use) Non-Habitual Form (can be used for felony or misdemeanors) : January 30, 2016- present explanation-of-rights-and-plea-of-guilty-on-or-after-january-30-2016.pdf (alacourt.gov)
IF plea/sentencing is entered pursuant the Guidelines- DA must submit copy of guidelines to Court as part of plea **Check DA s guidelines to make sure correct IF guidelines are ignored and sentenced under HOA (i.e. with aggravator/mitigator)- guidelines should still be submitted by the State and plea colloquy includes reasons for deviation IF HOA and Guideline offenses- if same Class, Guideline controls Different Class of offenses need to be sentenced separately (so different Ex. As) if not in same sentencing range Special Special Considerations Considerations for HOA & for HOA & Guidelines Guidelines
Exhibit A: Non-habitual (Felony/Misd. Form) explanation-of-rights-and-plea-of-guilty-on-or-after- january-30-2016.pdf (alacourt.gov)OR Explanation of Rights and Plea of Guilty (Misdemeanors and Municipal Ordinance Violations) Exhibit B: Some courts=optional (doesn t hurt to do) Order of probation: MOST of our judges do unsupervised probation for misdemeanors- some want Court order probation services form even for unsupervised **IF reduced from felony to misdemeanor- also fill out Reduction of Charge Form Misd Misd. Pleas: . Pleas: Basic Basic Paperwork Paperwork Ross- plea forms.pdf
IF seeking a blind plea or sentencing after trial (and sometimes on negotiated pleas) Generally- Court will want a PSI (Pre- Sentence Investigation) Prior to sentencing fill out the Court Ordered Probation Services Form Youthful Offender Generally, in District Court only granted IF not opposed by State For YO report- fill out Court Ordered Probation Services Form Courts use different forms but remember is adjudication NOT conviction Put ALL case #s- even dismissals PSIs/YO PSIs/YO
Examples: If reserving an issue for appeal- write it on the Ex. A If there are ANY special considerations for your plea- document them on the plea paperwork AND on the record/part of plea colloquy Extra things to Extra things to write on plea write on plea paperwork paperwork If the agreement is for cases to run CC with other cases- make sure is included on plea agreement form If entering as a Best Interest Plea - write on top of Exh. A Other examples?
Tips from Judges Tips from Judges Communicate with DAs reg. plea BEFORE Court Fill out paper legibly and completely (for some judges even fine amounts) Double check case #s and make sure have all signatures If pleading to multiple charges- misdemeanors & felonies- or felonies with different sentencing requirements- you may have to fill out multiple Exhibit As Plea in absentia paperwork (esp. for Judge Ross- allowed for misdemeanor cases)
