In Every courtroom in North Carolina, the DA's have what is called the 'Calender.' The Calender is a list of every Defendant ordered to be in court that day, along with their charge and some other minor information. The Calender is what the DA will work off of while running court that day. In order to expedite the process, the DA's will call out the name of every Defendant at the start of court and ask them to answer up in one of five ways: Guilty, Not Guilty, Motion, Attorney, or Court-Appointed Attorney. Most DA's do a good job of explaining what each answer means however, after a while, the DA's tend to fly through the explanation, and without a Q & A session, it can sometimes be hard to know how to answer. Therefore, I will now go through each response and explain what it means.
Guilty: This basically tells the DA that the Defendant does not wish to fight the charges. In some cases (probably better then half) the DA will still offer the Defendant a plea deal, since they are pleading guilty. This is the response that most people are afraid of, because they are scared of admitting guilt before knowing what options they may have. Though speaking with an attorney before hand will help alleviate these fears, just know that if you do answer up 'Guilty' during Calender Call, you can change your plea, so long as you haven't PLEAD GUILTY before the judge.- Not Guilty: This informs the DA that the Defendant wishes to fight the charges. Unless an agreement can be made regarding a plea deal, answering up 'Not Guilty' will mean you wish to have a trial. If this is your first or possibly second time to court, the changes are the State will continue the case in order to gather evidence. Once the case is ready to be tried, it will normally not occur until after all the other cases have been disposed of.
- Motion: This response (or 'Continuance' also works) is informing the DA that the Defendant wishes to continue the case to a later date. Understand, the court is NOT obligated to grant a continuance every time it is requested. Normally, the Judge will allow a couple of continuances for each side. So, if the Defendant has continued their case several times, they may face a situation whereby the Judge will NOT grant the continuance and you will either have to plead Guilty or Not Guilty.
- Attorney: This response (you may also answer with your Attorney's name, i.e. "Attorney Matheson") informs the DA that you have representation. This is important because, the DA is not permitted to speak directly with a Defendant who has procured legal representation; whether by hiring an attorney or having one appointed by the court. Once the DA knows you have an attorney, they will wait until that attorney comes to court in order to handle your case.
- Court-Appointed Attorney: Lastly, this response is requesting the court appoint you an attorney. Though this is a good option for some, there are several things that should be understood about requesting a court-appointed attorney. First, the Defendant will be required to fill out an affidavit covering their financial situation. This affidavit is used to determine whether you qualify as an indigent (poor) Defendant. Second, the Judge will make a determination, based off of your affidavit, whether you qualify. The Judge is NOT obligated to appoint the Defendant an attorney. If the Judge feels the Defendant has the resources to hire their own attorney, they will deny the request. Lastly, court-appointed attorneys are not necessarily free. If the Defendant ends up pleading guilty or is found guilty, they will be required to reimburse the State for that attorney's costs.
