Judge or Hearing Officer?

Folks that receive “appearance ticket” may come to the part of the criminal court (e.g. part AR2 in Queens) where Judicial Hearing Officer (JHO), rather than the Criminal Court Judge will be presiding.  Court personnel would ask one to fill out consent to adjudication before a judicial hearing officer, such as Form CRC 3063-4.  Procedure and laws are the same as in other parts before judge, but pace is a bit faster.  Court attorneys, who assist judge, are very helpful in suggesting how to proceed, because of their regular presence in the courtroom before that judge.  Sometimes, however, the outcome before JHO may not be desirable for defendant.  For example, defendant may prefer to engage in the plea bargaining with assistant district attorney (ADA), who is probably not present in JHO’s courtroom, but is present in criminal judge’s courtroom.  This designed JHO-Judge system allows flexibility for defendant to present its case to JHO, but also to ask JHO for a transfer to criminal judge for hearing (e.g. part AP2 in Queens).  This should be a great news for the defendant who is in a tough spot and would like to explore plea bargaining possibilities before the trial with ADA.