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The purpose of an arraignment is to formally
advice the defendant as to the charges that have been
filed against the defendant by the district attorney's
office or the attorney general's office.
This is done in a paper document called an
Information.
In the Information, the charges that have been filed
and the time at which the crime occurred is listed so
that the defendant is on notice of the charges.
The defendant enters a formal plea of guilty
or not guilty.
The defendant is advised of his or her pretrial rights
and the defendant is also notified as to what the
defendant's trial date is.
When a defendant actually pleads guilty, there's a
process that's followed to make sure that the defendant
understands what the defendant is doing.
So, that's called a Colloquy, and during that
process there's questions that are asked at the
defendant to make sure that the defendant understands
the rights that are being given up.
The time between arraignment and trial is different in
different counties.
Here in Bucks County, the time is usually
approximately 30 days.
What really determines when a trial takes place is the
fact that a defendant has a right to a speedy trial.
Therefore, by rule, if a defendant is out on the
street and is not in jail, the defendant has to be
brought to trial within 365 days of the date the
complaint is filed.
If the defendant is in jail, then the Commonwealth has
180 days to bring the defendant to trial.