The Basics of Review Hearings in Criminal Court

What is a Review Hearing?

A review hearing is a proceeding where a Court or Judge has ordered to review the state of a case. Generally, this ordered review considers whether the Defendant or respondent has complied with specific requirements set forth in an order, usually a probation or diversionary order. For example, a Court may order a review hearing a couple months after the imposition of probation upon a Defendant in order to determine if the Defendant has complied with the order for testing or counseling, or has violated any probation terms.
Review hearings are not a court trial, and therefore the rules of evidence do not apply. Informality is the sign of the day at a review hearing . If a respondent has failed to comply with any condition or requirements, he/she must explain why. If the Court determines that he/she has failed to comply with an ordered probation term, they may revise the terms of probation, send the Respondent to jail, impose a more severe indictment or conviction, or impose other sanctions. Respondent may simply be allowed to continue with their probation or other requirements, usually in response to a first time law offender, or violation of a minor requirement. Depending on the situation the review hearing may continue until the probation or other ordered conditions have been completed.

What are Review Hearings and Why Are they Important?

Undertaking a review hearing is done to determine if the defendant is complying with the orders of the court. It’s also done to determine whether the defendant has completed any programs that were ordered by the court. For example, if the judge required the defendant to complete a PCB evaluation and submit a report back to the judge, the review hearing will determine whether the report has been submitted. If so, the judge will determine whether the report was completed properly and has any recommendations for the court. This information will then give the judge an idea whether the defendant needs any other type of evaluation, whether a drug and alcohol evaluation or if there are any other concerns, such as a mental health evaluation. The purpose is to determine whether there are any other issues that should be addressed in the case.
Also, in the very large majority of cases, and I’d probably even go so far as to say 99% of cases, the defendant has to file quarterly financial information statements. These should be filed 30 days prior to the review hearing. At the review hearing the prosecutor will tell the judge whether the defendant filed his or her quarterly information statement, and whether it was complete and accurate or if there are any discrepancies. For example, if the defendant is a business owner and the quarterly information statement indicates that he or she earns $500,000, but the prosecutor has documents from the business that indicate the defendant’s been generating millions of dollars that would be different than what the quarterly information statement indicates. Those are reasons why the court has review hearings.

Which Types of Cases Have Review Hearings?

While any judge can grant a review hearing, some types of cases are more commonly dealt with in these types of hearings. For example, probation, parole, and juvenile cases frequently have review hearings. In such contexts, judges are apt to hear motions to revoke or modify as well.
Probation Violations
Most defendants sentenced to serve time following conviction are given probation instead of jail time. However, a judge can hold a review hearing to ask if the defendant should be held in order to give them an opportunity to deal with any underlying issues. These underlying issues might include mental health problems, substance abuse or addiction problems, or other social factors.
Parole Violations
Defendants who are in prison may have been sentenced to serve a sentence at a prison to ensure that certain conditions are met. Conditions of parole vary based on the type of offense, the length of the sentence, and the parolee’s behavior while in prison. The defendant may need to submit to regular drug or alcohol testing, participate in programs for addiction, or attend counseling or support group meetings. A review hearing may take place if the defendant has violated any of the terms of their parole.
Juvenile Offenses
Juvenile offenses are also handled differently from other offenses. There is a special division of the Circuit Court in each county that handles most criminal offenses involving juveniles. In these courts, the judge is responsible for rehabilitating the youth and helping them to reintegrate into school and society. There is also a juvenile drug court to help defendants with drug addiction issues. Review hearings are called progress hearings in juvenile court. These can be scheduled just to check on the juvenile’s progress in complying with the court-ordered treatment, or they can be requested by the prosecutor or Juvenile Officer on the basis of a violation of the terms and conditions of the juvenile’s sentence.

What Will Happen at a Review Hearing?

When you go to court for a review hearing in a criminal court, the person who is on probation shows up, along with the case manager and/or their attorney. The prosecutor comes to court, and the judge is already there or walks in during the hearing.
Review hearings are not hearings where a lot happens. The judge might want to know if you have been working instructions. If the judge thinks you are or might be an offender who has not been properly supervised, the judge might check in with the case manager and will probably also check the electronic database for any restrictions that may not have been put in place. Sometimes a review hearing is a simple excuse from court for the officer to show up and report that everything is going well. Only rarely will the judge set an officer appointment, send you to jail, or finish the case on the first review hearing. The parties come to the hearing to get an update and to make sure you are properly supervised.
Sometimes when someone is on probation, they are given a "hard date" by which they are to have completed their probation. Sometimes people will show up to court after a hearing and the case is resolved on that date.
Other days the judge may note the case is on the calendar and visit with counsel briefly. If the case is the subject of a motion, the judge will hear the motion. The judge will tell you where you can read the order the day after the hearing or another date on which the orders are put into writing. Sometimes the judge will ask you to stay at court until the written order is completed. There is sometimes a practical issue that the judge cannot put the order onto the record at the time of the hearing – and the judge is busy. It is advisable to wait for the written order to avoid later misunderstanding regarding what an order said.

My Legal Rights in a Review Hearing

The defendant has a legal right to legal representation at each review hearing. The hearing will only address matters relevant to the defendant. Any evidence or information not presented at the hearing, will not be considered by the court . Any witnesses who are to be called must be provided to the court and to each counsel (the prosecutor and the defendant) in advance. The defendant has the right to ask questions of the prosecutor and of any witnesses. Only the factual issues discussed at the review hearing will be considered by the court in rendering a decision.

How to Prepare for a Review Hearing

In preparation for a review hearing there are several steps that one should take. It is also important to speak with an attorney in advance of the hearing to review the facts and allegations as well as the possible options. In conjunction with those reviews a person should obtain documentation for the review hearing such as venue tickets, receipts or proof of payment for charges, either for storage fees or for moving/cancellation fees at the new location. If the circumstances have changed considerably from when the order was originally entered it may be possible for the order to be vacated or modified. Even if the change is not enough to vacate the Order you may be able to get the Order modified or changed.

What Happens if I Skip a Review Hearing?

The potential consequences of not attending a review hearing can be severe. Absent a compelling excuse, the court can and likely will revoke your pretrial release and issue a bench warrant for your arrest. That essentially means you will be arrested and brought before the court, where your history of missing hearing dates will be used against you. Not only could this lead to the state filing new charges against you or seeking enhanced penalties, it could also affect the outcome of your current case and your chances at any plea or settlement arrangement. While getting arrested could itself be inconvenient, the main consequence in such a situation is the chance you lose your freedom. If you are subject to a mandatory sentence, you might have no opportunity to argue for mitigation, even if you happen to have misremembered the date of a review hearing or had a family emergency. More often, a judge can cite multiple instances of your inability to keep a court date as a sign you are not taking the court seriously or are using finding ways to escape consequences as a primary motivation. The court will view you as a flight risk, and they will view it as only a matter of time before you end up in crime, so they cannot provide you with leniency with regard to any potential plea deals.

Review Hearings – The Latest Updates

In recent developments, review hearings for certain criminal offenses have undergone a process of consolidation under section 730.2 of the California Penal Code, regarding release on certain felony convictions. When the statute was first enacted, it was noted in the legislative history that this provision was to clarify the procedure for applying the burden of proof at a hearing to revoke, modify or set aside a recommendation by the Board of Prison Terms to release a person onto parole for felonies other than murder or prior violent felonies. Since then, certain crimes have been abolished, changed or eliminated, yet the statute has not been amended yet to reflect these changes. One particular change was highlighted in the case of In re Palacios, 2 Cal.App.5th 1134 (2016). In the Palacios case, the Court of Appeal of California determined that the procedure set out in section 1170.18 of the Penal Code, which allows defendants to petition for striking their felony conviction from their record, which would usher in a new era of felony sentencing, applies equally to the hearing to be held under section 730.2. The court explained: "Section 1170.18 establishes a two-step procedure for resentencing. First, a defendant determines whether s/he is eligible for resentencing by satisfying certain conditions described in section 1170.18." The Elwood court, at pages 1071-1072 cited this specific process as: "(1) the defendant has been convicted of a felony offense that is now a "misdemeanor" under the new law, (2) the defendant has completed the sentence for that felony conviction and has not had additional felony charges which are currently pending, or have been found to be in violation of post-conviction supervision resulting in imprisonment in jail or prison, (3) the defendant has successfully completed his parole or probation term following his release from prison, and (4) the defendant has completed his full term for his current offense is not otherwise ineligible under the law (such as being deemed a "high risk sex offender"). Upon satisfying these four steps, section 1170.18 (f) mandates that the trial court must hear the matter and determine that the resentencing penalty is equal to any other punishment for a retroactively deemed "misdemeanor" offense . If the person satisfies all the requirements of eligibility and the trial court has decided that the term for being released from prison is equal to the punishment for a retroactively termed "misdemeanor", then the current felony conviction may be recalled and the replacement of the felony with the misdemeanor conviction may occur. The new law does not require that the defendant be resentenced, but that the jail time be reduced, if completed, and release on parole from that conviction be for a period equal to that of other misdemeanor punishments and terms. The defendant can petition the trial court, and upon review, the trial court should be persuaded to agree and grant the release in accordance with the new law. " (Elwood, at pp. 1071-1072.) The recent decision provides greater clarity for how this new 730.2 hearing will proceed. The law clearly favors a change to the Penal Code at minimum, with the goal being to further increase the number of parole grants for candidates who present a low risk to the public and who have demonstrated positive adjustment while in prison. A significant factor in the evaluation of a candidate for release, in addition to their rehabilitation, is their health care needs. Many inmates suffer from major illnesses, such as tuberculosis, Hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS. The health care needs of inmates are complex and often difficult to treat while incarcerated. For inmates suffering from HIV/AIDS, antiretroviral therapy is crucial to the inmate’s safety and health. Specifically, inmates suffering from HIV/AIDS are more susceptible to developing opportunistic infections (OIs) which can cause pneumonia, meningitis, severe diarrhea, TB, etc. Thus, institutes must offer careful management of the HIV virus to prevent progression to AIDS, and development of OIs. The good news is that on August 4, 2017, California lawmakers sent Governor Brown AB 1510 (concerning the care of prisoners with serious medical and mental illnesses): This bill started as a Measure of the Senate, the Bill includes a sunset of January 1, 2021, on its provisions with an interim and final report to the Legislature on the current state of the law concerning mentally ill prisoners.