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An indictment (/ ɪ n ˈ d aɪ t m ən t / [1] in-DYTE-mənt) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony ; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indictable offence , an offence that requires an indictment.
In many common law jurisdictions (e.g. England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore), an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury (in contrast to a summary offence).
indictment; citation; traffic ticket; The charging document is what generally starts a criminal case in court. But the procedure by which somebody is charged with a crime and what happens when somebody has been charged varies from country to country and even, within a country, from state to state.
It requires grand juries to be composed of 16 to 23 members and that 12 members must concur in an indictment. [15] [16] A grand jury is instructed to return an indictment if the probable cause standard has been met. The grand jury's decision is either a "true bill" (formerly billa vera, resulting in an indictment), or "no true bill".
An information is a formal criminal charge which, depending upon the jurisdiction, either begins or continues a criminal proceeding in the courts. The information is one of the oldest common law pleadings (first appearing around the 13th century), and is nearly as old as the better-known indictment, with which it has always coexisted.
Where an indictment is obtained through means other than an information document, such as through grand jury proceedings or after an arrest when the defendant is first brought to court, the arraignment may be referred to as an "initial hearing", [9] or "preliminary arraignment", [10] which is different from a preliminary hearing. Those other ...
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Outrageous Government Conduct is a criminal defense that presupposes the defendant's predisposition to commit the crime but seeks dismissal of the indictment on the ground that the conduct of law enforcement agents was "so outrageous that due process principles would absolutely bar the government from invoking judicial process to obtain a conviction."