DC Attorney Discusses Deferred Prosecution Agreements

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• published: 03 Apr 2013
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Discussion of Deferred Prosecution Agreement Good day ladies and gentlemen, my name is Mark Rollins. I'm an attorney here in Washington DC. Today we're going to be talking about Deferred Prosecution Agreements, you're saying, "What is a Deferred Prosecution Agreement?" If you've got in trouble, and you've got in trouble in DC, you may be eligible for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Now, by in trouble I mean you usually have been charged with a misdemeanor offence, and that could be simple assault, it could be possession of a drug, it could be threats, it could be a number of misdemeanor offences, and you probably have not been in trouble before. That would allow you to be eligible for what they call a Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Now it is what it sounds like. It's a deferred, meaning that the prosecution will not take place for a period of time, and if you satisfy certain conditions of that Deferred Prosecution Agreement, the government will dismiss the case after a period of time. Now, typically what happens is that you've been arraigned and you'll have a citation date. You'll come into court; you'll be taken to courtroom C10. You will sign notice with the police officer to report to courtroom C10, and that will be on a Tuesday or Thursday. You'll come to court, the judge will tell you, you may be eligible for a citation. Now, hopefully at that point you've gotten an attorney. If you haven't gotten an attorney it's okay, you can still contact local attorney. You can contact us, be more than happy to represent you at that arraignment process. Now, the arraignment is just telling you what the charges are. The judge will simply tell you what the charges are and then they will set a new status date. Between that arraignment date and that status date, the government and your attorney will have tried to negotiate what they call a Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Now, under that Deferred Prosecution Agreement, you'll complete 32 hours of community service, and you'll do that in a four-month period, and you'll do that under the supervision of one of the community service providers in the District of Columbia, they have a number of them. You would go and register for your community service. You'll come back in four months, completing your community service, and the case will be dismissed at that point, as long as you've satisfied that community service agreement, and you've done everything else that the contract allowed. At that point, the government will dismiss that case. Now, if you have other questions and your questions are about Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Whether you're even eligible for Deferred Prosecution Agreement. Feel free to contact our office and we'll be more than happy to discuss that with you. The numbers on the screen, and again, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. 202-455-5610