My fiance has to testify in court - whats the process?

[murphy55d]

Monday night around 4am(right after I leave for work), my fiance was woken up by our dog barking and some noise across the street. She saw a guy at the neighbors front door, and another guy walk around the back with a ladder. She could hear them talking about how to get in, etc... anyway she called the cops, she told them what she saw( only that it was someone trying to break in, could not ID the guy if she had to, it was obviously dark), and they ended up catching one of the guys.

Yesterday she got a notice in the mail about being a witness at this guys trial(they nailed him with like 5 counts of B&E, evading arrest, prowling, and some other stuff). She is pretty scared to go into court cause she doesn't want this guy to know who she is, that aside, how does this process even go? To be honest I don't even know why they want her to say anything since she couldnt ID anyone, and the guy across the street happened to be home and called the cops as well, and he saw both guys up close. The guys trying to break in thought the house was empty, since the family is moving, they probably saw them loading boxes up and moving out, etc.

Anyway I see I'm rambling, im proud of her for calling the cops, but what happens now?

 

[ATLien247]

I don't see how her testimony would help convict the guy given your summary of the events...

 

[sao123]

the fact that she heard them talking and could recall some of their words makes her a material witness... she doesnt have to do anything until she recieves a sopena to appear in court at a selected date & time. thats it.

 

[murphy55d]

That's why neither of us understand why she needs to be there. When she got this letter yesterday we figured it was just a notice, in case she were needed. I told her to call just to make sure, she called this morning and said she needs to go and testify. Like I said, she saw this from our bedroom window across the street, at 4am, without her contacts in. All she saw were 2 people, a ladder, and heard what they said(maybe its what she heard that they want ? ).

 

[murphy55d]

I just went and looked at her letter, it says it is for a Preliminary hearing. Whoever she called this morning told her she needed to go.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: murphy55d

She could hear them talking about how to get in, etc.

That is probably the testimony they are looking for.

The guys trying to break in thought the house was empty, since the family is moving, they probably saw them loading boxes up and moving out, etc.

Were they going to steal the toilets?

MotionMan

 

[murphy55d]

They aren't all moved out yet. They are still living there. These guys must have thought they were all out.

So what will she have to do at this preliminary hearing?

 

[Double Trouble]

A preliminary hearing is basically a hearing where the judge gets information to decide if there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. She will just have to show up at the specified time, and most likely the prosecutor will just ask her to describe what she saw/heard. That, along with the account of the neighbor etc should be plenty to convince the judge there is sufficient evidence to have a trial. Tell her not to worry, she's not going to get grilled etc.

 

[Bryophyte]

My spouse had to go through something similar. He had to go to the judge or prosecutor's office (don't recall which) to talk before appearing in court, and when the lawyer of the guy he was testifying against saw that he had come, the guy decided to plead guilty. Basically, just showing up was enough to scare him into a plea bargain. My spouse never had to meet the guy in person (other than the actual crime scene), and did not have to testify in court.

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: tagej
A preliminary hearing is basically a hearing where the judge gets information to decide if there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. She will just have to show up at the specified time, and most likely the prosecutor will just ask her to describe what she saw/heard. That, along with the account of the neighbor etc should be plenty to convince the judge there is sufficient evidence to have a trial. Tell her not to worry, she's not going to get grilled etc.

Is the guy who they arrested present for this?