Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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.
A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can take several forms, including: complaint; information; 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 ...
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).
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 ...
A form book is a tool used by attorneys in the United States to aid in the filing of pleadings, motions and other legal documents with a court or similar decision-making body. [1] A form book may be a bound volume or binder containing loose-leaf pages, containing forms, clauses and model documents that the attorney might use when preparing a ...
To secure an indictment in U.S. District Courts, a United States Attorney (more likely an Assistant, an AUSA) presents the government’s favorite details, whether admissible at trial, and asks ...
During the second stage, the post-indictment arraignment, the defendant is allowed to enter a plea. In New York, a person arrested without a warrant and kept in custody must be brought before a local criminal court for arraignment "without unnecessary delay". [13] A delay of more than 24 hours is rebuttably presumed to be unnecessary. [14]