Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
You’ve received a notice for a clerk’s hearing in Massachusetts. What happens next?
I’m Steve Brooks. I’m a criminal trial attorney in Massachusetts with an office in
Boston and in Dedham. And I can answer your questions about clerk’s hearings. Clerk’s
hearings, also known as magistrate hearings or clerk magistrate hearings, are informal
hearings conducted at a courthouse before a complaint is actually issued. Many cases
are resolved this way. The hearings take place sometimes in a conference room and sometimes
actually in a courtroom. Sometimes, they are essentially private and only have a police
prosecutor or police officer and a clerk and a defendant and maybe their defendant’s
attorney. Sometimes, they take place in a courtroom where all the other hearings take
place in front of everyone else. Obviously, the dynamic is different depending on whether
or not you have a semi-private hearing or a very public hearing. Now clerk’s hearings
present opportunities for defendants to present their side of the story or to resolve a case,
short of issuing a full complaint and going to court and seeing a judge. There’s a clerk,
who’s oftentimes a very experienced public employee - the opportunity to negotiate a
resolution, if a crime wasn’t that serious, or negotiate a resolution between the parties
(if they want to resolve it amongst themselves and not keep coming back to court.) Sometimes
police prosecutors will agree to recommend that a complaint not be issued in exchange
for the defendant doing something, such as attending a safe driver course or performing
community service. These are one of the ways that we have to deal with the case without
issuing a complaint and resolving a complaint short of issuing a complaint. It’s an informal
way to bring the sides together and have a conversation – similar to the one we’re
having now. Now you’re watching this video because you received a notice - or someone
you know has received a notice - that you have a clerk’s hearing scheduled. And you
may have questions about the process, about the procedure. I can answer those questions.
I handle these cases every day. Call me at 781-251-0555. And thanks for watching.