Context: I'm applying for US citizenship. I was arrested (so I think) a few years ago for misdemeanor.
The police took me on a Friday, I spent a night in "jail" (it might not be the correct technical term), and on Saturday the next day my friends found out about me and bailed me out.
I then took an attorney, who said she successfully worked on my case and that I was free. From there on nothing happened: I never heard from the court or the police again etc, and it was even impossible for the attorney to give me any formal confirmation from the court that I was "free".
This was 4 years ago, in California in Santa Clara county.
As I was gathering documents from the police and the court for the naturalization process, I see that I was detained but not arrested. Now looking at the dates on the document, it shows that I was arrested and released on the same date. But I was not released "in the nature" until my friends bailed me out the next day.
Questions:
What does "release" mean?
Why did I have to spend a night in jail if I was released?
Technically, did I go to jail? or to a "detention facility"?
Was I charged with committing, attempting to commit, or assisting in committing a crime or offense?
Did I receive a suspended sentence?
If it can help, I couldn't find my name on Santa Clara's court: https://traffic.scscourt.org/search
Note: The first three questions are mine, the last two are asked in the naturalization questionnaire. It's a bit too technical for me to understand what is my situation.
Thanks in advance
