Felony Defense Lawyer in Mesa, AZ

Mesa's own prosecutor and court stop at misdemeanors. The City Prosecutor, in Suite 222 of the courthouse building at 250 E. 1st Ave., says its caseload is misdemeanors and code violations committed in Mesa, and leaves every felony committed within Mesa to the County Attorney. The case types Mesa Municipal Court publishes are misdemeanors, traffic matters and protective orders. So a Mesa Police felony report travels to the County Attorney, and the case belongs to Superior Court.

Most state felonies are charged by the County Attorney, while the Arizona Attorney General's Office brings a smaller share, typically where the conduct allegedly crossed county lines, where state investigators built the case, or where the County Attorney referred it. Both offices use the same downtown courthouse. We handle these matters whichever office brought the charge.

Booking happens first at the Mesa Police holding facility. The department's page says anyone held on a charge other than a City of Mesa charge is processed there and then taken to the Sheriff's Intake, Transfer and Release site (ITR) at 2670 S. 28th Dr. in Phoenix. The 24-hour limit in Rule 4.1 runs from the arrest to the initial appearance. That court sits every day of the year, the Sheriff's Office says, and the charges it hears have not been screened by a prosecutor yet, so the case may still go back to the investigating agency.

At ITR the judge or commissioner explains the felony allegations and the right to a lawyer, appoints counsel for someone who cannot afford it, and chooses among release on recognizance, a bond and continued custody. Probation officers in Adult Probation's Initial Appearance Unit brief the court first with a Public Safety Assessment. If someone is held without bond and no direct complaint follows within 48 hours, the County Attorney's guide says release may follow.

Conditions take hold the moment someone walks out. Adult Probation's list includes check-ins with Pretrial Services, testing for drugs and alcohol, electronic monitoring by ankle device and no-contact orders naming alleged victims. Read the release order line by line, because a missed test or a message to a named witness can create a second problem inside the first.

Bond money needs care. Superior Court says a criminal bond can be posted only in person with the Sheriff's Office downtown, at the jail address listed below; electronic payment is not accepted, and release may take as long as 24 hours once it is paid. A caller demanding bond money through an app is not the court, as the FAQ below explains.

Plenty of Mesa felonies start with no arrest at all. Detectives forward a report, and a County Attorney prosecutor then reviews it and can send it back for further work, decline to prosecute, refer it to another jurisdiction, or bring a direct complaint or seek an indictment. A complaint brings a summons to appear, or a warrant when a judge believes the person will not come in voluntarily. That stretch before any charge is often the defense's best chance to put records, witnesses and context in front of the prosecutor.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A felony conviction makes a person a prohibited possessor of firearms until the right is restored, and on any felony conviction the court may suspend or revoke a license or permit granted by a state or local agency. A probation sentence is still a final judgment of conviction. The routes that avoid a felony conviction are different ones: a dismissal, a completed County Attorney diversion program, or, for an eligible class 6 offense, a misdemeanor designation. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should get immigration advice before any plea.