Criminal Court

For most people, if your case continues through the criminal justice system, the second court you would encounter is the criminal court. In some counties in East Tennessee, the criminal court is called circuit court. In defending your case, criminal court is a continuation of general sessions court, but there are some differences in the procedures available in criminal court.

In criminal court, the prosecution is required to affirmatively provide your attorney with discovery, or, in other words, the evidence that they would plan to use at trial against you. In general sessions court, this is not required, which is why doing independent defense investigation is so important.

Criminal Court is also the step in the process where your attorney would file motions or briefs addressing important legal issues in the case. This might include legal arguments about why the case should be dismissed or the State should not be allowed to use certain evidence against you. For example, if you were not given “Miranda warnings” and told that you had the rights to an attorney and to remain silent, then this might be a legal issue that your attorney could litigate and argue why the State could not use your statements against you at a trial. This is just one more commonly known example of a legal issue. These kinds of issues are complex and there are certain steps that have to be followed to ensure that the issues are raised correctly and that the judge hears the necessary evidence in support of the issues. With our experience and understanding of all stages of the criminal justice process, our team of attorneys can creatively and thoroughly approach your case to ensure that all legal issues are raised to give you the best outcome in your case.