Can I Waive Or Skip My Arraignment? | Washington State #law #legal #court

In Washington, the criminal rules allow for courts of limited jurisdiction (district and municipal courts), in certain types of criminal cases, for the accused to send a document to the Prosecutor and the Court to enter a plea without you appearing for the Arraignment. The trick is that you need to have a private criminal defense attorney hired BEFORE the Arraignment. This is because the attorney must file the documents and enter the plea on your behalf.

There are exceptions to this rule and those exceptions are for crimes such as DUI, Physical Control, criminal charges that involve domestic violence, Harassment, Violation of Anti-Harassment Orders, and Stalking. If you have been accused of crimes not on that short list and you hire a lawyer with enough time to file the Waiver of Arraignment, you can avoid stepping foot in the courthouse. If your attorney finds a good defense or is able to work out a deal with the Prosecutor, you may never have to go to court (other than zoom) even though you were charged with a crime.

Unfortunately, this plan won't work if you are planning to use a public defender. The reason is that the PD is not appointed until your Arraignment. To waive or avoid going to the Arraignment, you need a lawyer before the court date. Ideally, you need to hire a private defense attorney at least one week before your court date but we have successfully filed this waiver an hour before a hearing and our client avoided going to court. It really depends on the court or jurisdiction.

Remember, this does not work for crimes charged and filed in Superior Court. Crimes charged in Superior Court are felonies. The rule for waiving Arraignment applies to misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors other than those listed above. We typically waive the Arraignment and avoid appearance for our clients on criminal cases that involve theft, shoplifting, assault, malicious mischief, BUI, reckless driving, trespassing, hit and run, minor in possession (MIP), driving while license suspended as well as fish and game violations. There are other situations where this may apply but you need to contact a private defense attorney and check on your specific facts and what is alleged in the criminal complaint.

Nothing above is intended to be used as legal advice. We are unaware if the option of waiving your Arraignment is available in any other state. If you are facing a criminal charge, you can only receive proper advice from a licensed attorney in the state where you were criminally charged. You need to receive advice specific to your case and in the jurisdiction where you were charged.

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