Meaning of Disposition in Court
The general definition of a disposition in court is an official statement regarding the outcome of a case. This is the most basic way of defining something in the context of a formal court setting, and this is an important explanation because a disposition is not the same thing as anything else . That means that a disposition will not necessarily be the sentence that is handed down, even though it typically results in some sort of judgment or conclusion, whether you are talking about a case that involved a plea or a verdict that resulted in guilt. It is a term that comes into play throughout the entirety of the process, and is not only reserved solely for the final judgment.
Court Disposition Types
Guilty
An admission of guilt is essentially what a guilty disposition means. When a defendant pleads guilty or is otherwise found guilty of a criminal charge, the case is disposed of with that status. This is an end to the proceedings unless the defendant files an appeal challenging the verdict.
In addition to a trial verdict, a plea of guilty can also be an admission of guilt at a circuit court sentencing hearing after a no contest or Alford plea has been offered at an earlier court date. This generally results from a plea agreement where the defendant admits guilt to a lesser charge and it is in exchange for a more lenient sentence from the judge.
Finally, a guilty plea or finding can also be made by statute in circumstances where a defendant is found guilty of certain criminal offenses by a law enforcement officer, such as a traffic offense or municipal ordinance violation. The traffic officer or municipal court official will give the offender a ticket with a specific fine amount written in. This type of guilty disposition means the matter is closed unless the offender wishes to challenge the penalty by filing an appeal.
Not Guilty
Conversely, a not guilty disposition means the defendant was able to persuade a judge or jury that the evidence was not sufficient to find guilt. This status disposes of the case and brings the matter to an end. A finding of not guilty in a criminal case requires that the state prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. If the fact finder has any reasonable doubt that the defendant did not commit the crime, then they cannot lawfully find him or her guilty of the crime. Submitting exculpatory evidence that disproves a material element of the crime or a law enforcement officer’s improper investigation of the crime can create enough doubt to prevent a convicting verdict.
A not guilty status can also result from the entry of a motion to dismiss the charges. If the motion is granted, the matter is over. There are many possible reasons to dismiss that do not necessarily mean the state’s evidence was insufficient to support a conviction, but merely that there exists a legal reason the prosecution cannot continue.
Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
Future dates can be set by the court when it has not yet been established if the defendant is competent to stand trial. Before proceeding to trial, the defendant may undergo further examination or may be committed for treatment to restore his or her competence. If restored, the trial proceeds on the underlying criminal charges.
Competency hearings are held to determine if the defendant meets the legal standard for competency. If found incompetent, the defendant is committed to a mental health treatment facility for care to restore competency to stand trial or a judge may dismissal the charge altogether if the insanity claim is valid.
If the defendant is found incompetent, he or she is committed for treatment. After treatment, the defendant is then reviewed to determine if competence has been restored, and if so, the criminal charges proceed. If not deemed competent, the matter may be dismissed.
Dismissed
A dismissed case is like a not guilty disposition in that the court is finely persuaded that the defendant cannot lawfully be prosecuted and punished for the alleged offense. The entry of a motion to dismiss is often encouraged by the prosecutor even before trial. Sometimes reasons exist that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction and consequently the state is unable to prove the criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Other times there are legal reasons where the prosecution cannot go forward with the case, such as entrapment.
Dismissed is also a common disposition for a civil or small claims court case. A party may file a motion to dismiss for a number of reasons, such as failure to comply with a court order or the settlement of the matter prior to the court’s ruling.
The final disposition related to a case involves the parties agreeing to a continuance. A continuance simply means the matter is postponed to a future date.
How Dispositions Work
Unless your matter is resolved by way of administrative hearing, the typical legal processes or proceedings that lead to a final disposition are trial, plea bargain or settlement. For a trial, one side would present their case and the other would most likely cross-examine them. There are many types of trials – judge or jury, civil or criminal, college or commission related sanction, etc. A trial may also occur in a municipality court, county court, state district court, or federal district court. A slight variation of this procedure is the motion for summary judgment; this is not an absolute pretrial motion, but it is a device to dispose of the case if one side has no legal claims or factual allegations. In a trial, the judge will often issue a written ruling through an opinion letter, finding of fact and/or conclusions of law, or judgment. This is an "order" and it too can be further appealed to a higher predominate court. A plea bargain is more common in criminal cases. A prosecutor will attempt to persuade a criminal defendant to plead guilty in exchange for a lower or lesser offense or a more lenient sentence, or perhaps a recommendation to be found competent to stand trial. The courts are doing their best to move their dockets along in a timely manner; hence plea bargains, commissions made from fines, monetary sanctions, etc. have become more commonplace. In civil matters that are not resolved by any of these means, one tip is to have significant evidence of the opposite side’s liability and convince them to settle rather than have to go through a long and traumatic appeal process. With the administrative agencies, however, if you are not a higher authority citizen or one that exercises discretion, you may be living under your agency’s rule and challenging the ruling in court may be difficult; you may have this choice or be forced into it.
Effects of a Disposition in Court
Depending on the type of disposition in your case, it can have different consequences for you and other legal entities. A conviction can have many negative side effects on more than just you, such as employers, schools, lenders, and even friends and acquaintances.
Employers might be notified of your conviction if a check was made with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Certain schools ask for a transcript from the DPS, the military looks into criminal history for recruits, some lenders and landlords consider a conviction when evaluating creditworthiness, and friends and acquaintances may learn of your conviction if the case goes to trial .
Crimes that are misdemeanors may result in a conviction up to 2 years after the date of the offense, and felonies will have a conviction notification made 3 years after the date of the offense. Therefore, if you are convicted, you might want to apply for post-conviction relief or non-disclosure and apply sooner rather than later.
If you are denied this type of relief, you may have to wait a certain amount of time before petitioning for it again. Some relief petitions require that you have not been arrested for the crime for a certain period, plus an additional probationary period.
Appealing a Court Disposition
A party may seek review of a disposition by appellate motion (before trial has begun), by a notice of appeal (after trial has commenced), or by a notice of appeal and stay application filed simultaneously. A notice of appeal will demand that an appellate court review a disposition. A stay application, if granted, preserves the status quo until a higher court rules on the disposition.
A failure of the trial court to rule on a material issue of fact gives the appellate court the same duty as the trial court would have had if asked to rule upon that issue. Without a ruling on an issue of fact upon which the trial court is not called to rule, the appellate court cannot decide whether to find actionable misconduct on the part of the trial court. The trial court, therefore, must be asked to rule on all facts material to the issue being decided.
An appeal can present legal issues as well as factual issues. Legal issues are generally more difficult because they usually require a different standard of review, i.e., de novo, abuse of discretion, reasonableness, or some other standard. To deal with both issues, a party must arrange them in a flow-chart fashion, ensuring that the appellate court is able to connect the dots, so to speak, in an orderly fashion, to achieve a satisfactory conclusion to the case.
If an appeal is taken, and is successful in favor of the husband, he is entitled to attorney’s fees on appeal because he was denied a substantial issue on appeal according to the appellate court’s decision. In such cases, the appellate court should award reasonable appellate fees.
An appellant is entitled to an award of appellate attorney’s fees regardless of whether the matter is resolved on appeal or if the matter is resolved by settlement or enforcement. That is, a party who obtains relief in any manner is entitled to appellate attorney’s fees. However, appellate attorney’s fees alone don’t guarantee a superior court’s assessment of trial attorney fees, which is separate and distinct from appellate attorney’s fees. A trial court is empowered to award attorney’s fees only from the date the trial court awarded fees and thereafter.
Common Questions About Dispositions
1. What does disposition mean in the context of a criminal case?
A disposition in criminal law is the legal outcome of a criminal case – e.g. whether a felony charge results in a conviction, a dismissal, a nolle prosequi, or some sort of diversion program. Dispositions can also involve civil traffic cases or juvenile cases. In Massachusetts, a disposition of a juvenile case can involve a child being placed with a guardian or found in need of services.
2. What is the disposition of this case?
This question could be answered in a variety of ways and could be answered differently by various people. As a general rule in criminal cases, the ultimate disposition (finding of guilt, finding of civil violation, etc.) can occur only after a trial, a plea agreement, an admission, or a nolle prosequi and then only after sentencing. The prosecutor’s office or the court could tell you what they believe will be the ultimate disposition but that is at best a guess.
3. I went to a hearing and a guilty finding was entered, what is the disposition?
If the information is accurate, there was a guilty finding , the case is over, you will be sentenced eventually, and the court may require you to comply with certain conditions.
4. My attorney says that there is a disposition within the next two weeks. Is that right?
If there is a disposition within the next two weeks it is most likely because you have agreed to plead guilty or to a settlement of the case in some way. Your lawyer should have discussed that with you before you entered into any such agreement.
5. What happened to my license?
Your license was suspended at the time of the initial arraignment if you were charged with Operating after Suspension or until you were found not responsible if charged with Operating under the Influence. If you were found guilty of an Operating under the Influence charge, your license has been suspended for any of the time frames set forth on the driver’s license suspension page.
6. Is there a way to see the full record of dispositions?
The disposition and the underlying court record of any case is a matter of public record. The records are available through the Massachusetts court case portal at masscourts.org.