Arrested for a Crime in the Lowell District Court

If you have been arrested or charged with a crime in Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, U-Mass Lowell, or the city of Lowell, then the Lowell District Court, located at 41 Hurd Street, Lowell, MA is where you need to report for your arraignment. The doors to the courthouse open at 8:30AM and cell phones are not allowed in the building. The first thing that you have to do is go to the probation department located at the far end of the old historic (although perhaps not beautiful) building. At the counter you need to provide your name, date of birth, show a picture ID, and answer the questions from the probation officer on the intake form about what do you do for work and where you live. This allows the court to run a background check to see if you have any past criminal record. After leaving the probation department, you are heading to the first session to wait for your case to be called by the Assistant Clerk Magistrate.

It is at this point that you likely will want to have an experienced Lowell criminal defense attorney. Having an attorney familiar with the process, the court personnel, and the different ways the Lowell District Court handles matters can make a very traumatic experience much easier. At the arraignment, the clerk magistrate formally reads your offense into the record and provides you with a criminal complaint. You or your attorney are provided a copy of the police report and at this point the prosecutor asks for bail or conditions of release.

In Massachusetts Courts, prosecutors ask for cash bail as a way to make sure a person comes back to court. Judges may require you to provide the clerk’s office an amount of money (in cash) that you get back if you come to court until your case is over. If you do not, your bail is lost! Although in recent years there has been a lot of criticism regarding the cash bail system and its impact on low income families, Middlesex District Attorneys still ask for cash bail on serious or even petty offenses. Another alternative is to order conditions requiring you to do or not do something while the case is pending. This could be to submit to alcohol or drug testing, stay away from the person who accused you of a domestic violence offense, or continue with current counseling treatment or other conditions.

Having a Lowell District Court criminal defense attorney is one way to ensure that you put your best argument forward on your first appearance before the Court. Bail arguments made by an attorney who is not familiar with your case may not have the same chance of success. Ryan Sullivan makes sure to craft a unique, personalized, and creative argument for each client facing a bail argument or a question of conditions. Instead of just simply reciting a resume of his client, Attorney Sullivan argues all of the reasons why the least amount of bail (if any) and the least restrictive amount of conditions are appropriate for his client to be released from the courthouse that day. Knowing the probation department, the prosecutors, and appearing very regularly before the judges in Lowell and other Middlesex courts are some of the tools that Attorney Sullivan uses in order to distinguish his clients from just being a piece of paper, and really showing the judges they are human beings.

Whether you were charged with domestic assault and battery, a violation of a restraining order, or a DUI, Ryan Sullivan is available to assist you in your defense from that first day at arraignment and in the future up to and including the trial of your case. Being charged with a crime (whether right or wrong) can be an incredibly difficult process. It creates anxiety, stress, and can result in problems in other parts of your life. Having an attorney who listens, has handled other cases in the court you are charged in, and can look at a case from both sides can make a difficult process easier.

If you need a lawyer to handle your case in the Lowell District Court, call us today at (978) 474-0054, or contact us online to schedule an appointment. Having an attorney you feel comfortable with is Ryan Sullivan’s number one advice for clients and potential clients. When deciding which attorney is the right fit for you, that first meeting or even phone call will show you why Attorney Sullivan’s clients are continually satisfied with his advice and his representation through the way he handles their defense in a way designed to achieve the best result possible.