A person arrested for the first time has no idea what happens next. Bail hearing, disclosure, plea negotiations, preliminary inquiry, trial, sentencing—each stage brings new terminology, procedures, and decisions with life-altering consequences. Someone with a good lawyer navigates this complexity successfully. Someone without representation makes choices at each fork in the road without understanding where different paths lead. The criminal justice process involves dozens of steps, multiple actors with different roles, and procedural rules that determine outcomes as much as facts or law.