How Long Can A Defendant Be Held Before The Grand Jury Meets?90 days?

[Miss_Cherokee]

I was told that a defendant can be held for 90 days without indictment and then should be released or petitioned to be released immediately. However to indict on the charge, the grand jury can take up to a year. Is this correct ? Thank You..

 

[mightymoose]

I'm not sure about the grand jury time limits... that will vary by jurisdiction.... but in all jurisdictions nobody will be held for 90 days without criminal charges having been filed.... not legally anyway.

 

[jharris352]

I'm not sure about texas. I'll take a look here in a minute and do a supplemental post. Generally speaking though you have two sets of charges. You have a warrant that can be issued by a Judge. Your husband can be arrested on that alone. Within 72 hours or so he would go to "first appearance" and be given a bond if one had not already been assigned. If he makes bond he usually would waive the Probable cause hearing. If he does not make bond then within a reasonable amount of time (usually 10 days) he would appear before the arresting judge for a probable cause/binding over hearing. If they do not go that route they must go the grand jury route.

In each jurisdiction you have different time limits. Generally if the defendant is in custody the grand jury must indict in the current session, which would be 30-120 days depending on their schedule. If he is not indicted in that session then the DA must let him go pending indictment. He can be indicted thereafter any time up to a year I believe. I'll do some preliminary checks for you. I know you were asking earlier about being able to get your husband out on bond. Apparently you have been unsuccessful. I'll do a little checking.

 

[jharris352]

Here is the section of the law that you are looking for. If your husband is accused of a felony they have 90 days to take him to trial or to release him on bail. Take a look and see if any of the other conditions apply to him. Good luck dear.

Art. 17.151. RELEASE BECAUSE OF DELAY. Sec. 1. A defendant
who is detained in jail pending trial of an accusation against him
must be released either on personal bond or by reducing the amount
of bail required, if the state is not ready for trial of the
criminal action for which he is being detained within:
(1) 90 days from the commencement of his detention if he is
accused of a felony;
(2) 30 days from the commencement of his detention if he is
accused of a misdemeanor punishable by a sentence of imprisonment
in jail for more than 180 days;
(3) 15 days from the commencement of his detention if he is
accused of a misdemeanor punishable by a sentence of imprisonment
for 180 days or less; or
(4) five days from the commencement of his detention if he
is accused of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine only.
Sec. 2. The provisions of this article do not apply to a
defendant who is:
(1) serving a sentence of imprisonment for another offense
while the defendant is serving that sentence;
(2) being detained pending trial of another accusation
against the defendant as to which the applicable period has not yet
elapsed;
(3) incompetent to stand trial, during the period of the
defendant's incompetence; or
(4) being detained for a violation of the conditions of a
previous release related to the safety of a victim of the alleged
offense or to the safety of the community under this article.
Sec. 3. Repealed by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 110, Sec. 2.

Added by Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 1972, ch. 787, Sec. 2, eff. July 1,
1978.

Sec. 2 amended by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 110, Sec. 1, eff. Sept.
1, 2005; Sec. 3 repealed by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 110, Sec. 2,
eff. Sept. 1, 2005.

 

[Miss_Cherokee]

Hello Jharris, first of all, let me thank you for your knowledge and research, and answering my posts. You have been invaluable to me helping prompt my husbands court appointed attorney.Grand Jury HAS met as of Wednesday and no indictment was handed down during that session concerning my husbands case, which is weak at best.As for bond I won't have the cash until the end of the month. They have a plea on the table which is 5 years adjudicated and reduced conviction to a misdemeanor, which he is considering because he wants out of county lock up as do I want him out so desperately. Since there has been a bond reduction hearing already and grand jury doesn't meet until next month and by that time it will be past the 90 days from his imprisonment date, with no other cases or charges pending is petitioning to get him released immediately, viable? Gotta go see if his lawyer got him on the docket for next week. Again, Thank you for your time and input answering my questions..- Miss Cherokee

 

[jharris352]

Apparently there was no presentation of his case to the Grand jury. I would not take any plea until there is an indictment. If he has already been there this long don't take a permanent plea to get him out a couple days earlier. If the Grand Jury were to return a No bill he is out anyway. Since they will not meet until after the 90 limit I would wait at least that long. You want to wait as long as possible to take a plea. Pleas get better and better the closer they are to losing the case. If they are offering you this plea now, it will get dramatically better when he is out of jail and doesn't have the pressure to plea so he can get out of jail. They know that, and so does your POS court appointed attorney. What I found for you is something he/she should have known off the top of their heads. Sometimes I hate the system. Good luck.