The first event that will happen will be an arrest and proceeding after that would be a bond hearing. If you were let out on bond, then you will remain on bond until a preliminary hearing happens. After the preliminary hearing, you will have the first appearance. Things do not always occur in this order, but this is a typical order of the way things happen.
The old term for the first appearance is a roll call. The purpose of the first appearance is to determine whether you have hired an attorney or whether you have a public defender. This is to determine if you have retained legal counsel. According to the Federal Public Defender of Northern Ohio, the court will not hear your case at that time. There will not be a jury there at your first appearance, so this is more of a scheduling or administrative type of thing. However, you absolutely must be there, or a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest unless you have permission not to be there from your attorney.
The next step in the process is the second appearance. By that time, your attorney should have all of the evidence or the discovery in your case. You will have had an opportunity to go over that with your attorney. By that point, you should know whether you are going to plead guilty, or you should be ready to enter a not guilty plea, which means you will have a trial at a later date. You can have either a bench trial or a jury trial.
