Arizona Probation Violation Attorney

Oftentimes, defendants are sentenced to a term of probation as part of their criminal sentence in place of incarceration. Probation offers the defendant the opportunity to serve their sentence outside the confines of prison and allows them to continue to work. Each defendant is given specific terms the court orders the defendant to comply with in order to remain free from incarceration.

The terms of probation vary case to case. If the State believes a defendant has violated any term of their probation they will file a “Petition to Revoke Probation” asking the court to revoke the defendants release and to send the defendant to prison or jail to serve out the remainder of their sentence. Once the Petition to Revoke Probation has been filed, the court will likely order the defendant to be taken into custody and held until the alleged violation is resolved. The defendant will be required to attend an arraignment where they will either admit or deny the allegations in the petition to revoke.

There will eventually be a disposition hearing where both sides will present arguments and the court will decide whether to reinstate or revoke the defendant’s probation. This disposition hearing is very different from a criminal trial. The burden of proof is much lower and the court is allowed to consider evidence that may not otherwise be admitted at trial.

There are multiple defenses and mitigation that must be presented to the court in order to defeat the petition or persuade the judge to reinstate you on probation with no additional penalty. It is vital that you have an experienced and aggressive criminal defense attorney on your side.

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