What Transpires at the Hearing for the Probation Violation?

Interviewer: What happens at the court hearing for probation violation? Is there an evidentiary hearing where you can assist your client with a defense?

Attorney Kramer Advises That the Nature of the Probation Violation Is Important to the Potential Outcome of the Hearing

Mike Kramer: The normal procedure and the way I would handle a violation of probation is the most important issue is the specific violation that’s filed. There are certain violations that are deemed more serious than others. There are certain easier to defend than others obviously.

Attorney Kramer Will Try to Reach an Agreement with the Probation Officer to Avoid a Sentence of Jail for His Client If the Judge Does Deem a Violation Has Occurred

What’s most important is that the first court appearance you entered denial and then the case is adjourned, during that period of adjournment, it’s up to your criminal defense attorney to contact your probation officer to see if there’s some way you can work out a solution to satisfy the probation officer. Hopefully, if a solution can be reached, the probation officer would not recommend, upon the finding of a violation of probation, a jail sentence.

Judges follow the recommendations of a probation officer, so it’s mainly the probation officer that you want to try to get on your side. During that period of time that the hearing adjourned you try to work with the probation officer. If all fails, that is if the probation officer insists the violation transpired and wants your client violated and have the judge impose a more serious sentence, then it only remains to decide whether you want to have a probation violation hearing.

At the Violation Hearing, the Probation and in Some Cases, Additional Witnesses Testify to Support the Allegation of the Probation Violation

At that hearing, the probation officer will testify as to the evidence he has indicating that probation was violated. If he wants through the prosecutor’s office, they can call additional witnesses to establish the violation.

The Probationer Is Entitled to a Defense at the Hearing

The probationer is entitled to defend him or herself by introducing evidence on their own behalf that supports they didn’t violate the probation. A common violation is failure to report to the probation officer.

If the probation officer testifies you didn’t report, it can be pretty difficult for you to get up and say, well I did report. This is because the hearing can be a credibility contest and certainly the judge is likely to believe the probation officer.

If you’re found guilty of a subsequent crime, it’s hard to defend against because that’s a matter of a court record. There are other probation violations that are worth defending and worth having a hearing to defend. Failing to participate in drug treatment for example, there are always reasons why one program is better than the other and why a probationer might not have responded to one as opposed to another.

Attorney Kramer Finds It Beneficial to Call Witnesses to Testify on the Character of the Probationer

Another reason you want to have a hearing might be to introduce background evidence about the probationer that the judge is unaware of to gain sympathy for a probationer. I found that’s quite useful to call character witnesses and counselors from treatment programs to testify on a probationer’s behalf. It helps greatly.