If the convening authority recommends that the charges go forward, the charges will be referred to a Court Martial. At that time, the charges will be either amended, kept the same or added to, based on the investigation. Charges will eventually be brought before a court presided over by a military judge. The first step in the judicial process is what is called an “Arraignment”. An arraignment is an opportunity for the defendant to come to court and to place a plea on the record. In most cases, the plea is not guilty or a reservation of the plea meaning that neither a guilty nor a not guilty will be stated on the record but an election to reserve making a plea is made. The reason that sometimes the election to plea is reserved, is to allow an opportunity to the defense to file motions. In the military, once a plea is placed on the record, under the rules no motions may be filed without permission from the court. Therefore, pleas are often reserved until a future date to enable the defense to file motions.