indicted in wva means what goes to circuit court
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Criminal laws can exist confusing to anybody, not just to those defendant of crimes. To get a clear overview of what indictment means, i must grasp the divergence between a criminal accuse and a civil accuse. There are two methods a person can exist charged with a crime: a criminal complaint brought by a prosecutor and a grand jury indictment.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
If a person is indicted, it ways that a grand jury has considered the evidence against them and has determined that there is likely cause to accuse them with a law-breaking. This is different from the usual start of a criminal case, which occurs when a prosecutor files a criminal complaint against an accused.
Civil vs. Criminal Charges
The types of charges that can exist brought against a person through the courts can be viewed every bit falling into one of two universes: civil charges and criminal charges. Criminal charges are those that seek to punish a person for illegal acts they take committed. This includes actions that they are alleged to have taken that are prohibited by police force, but there are as well crimes of omission.
When someone is mandated by law to exercise something, failure to act may be a crime. For example, a medical worker has a duty to written report suspected child abuse and failure to have this activeness can issue in criminal charges. Criminal charges are ever brought past a government prosecutor or commune attorney.
A civil charge is one that is brought by a private individual or a government agency other than law enforcement against another individual or a business organization entity. A ceremonious dispute can be bitter and ugly – think of contested divorces or fraud charges – only a verdict against a defendant in a civil suit cannot ship them to jail or incur other criminal penalties.
Bringing Criminal Charges
Before an private tin can be charged with a crime, someone generally must review the evidence to determine whether there is enough evidence to merit charges. This is important considering even if a person is not ultimately bedevilled, the mere fact of existence charged with a criminal crime may haunt them throughout their lives. A job application or housing application may ask whether the person has always been charged with a criminal offence, and it carries a stigma, even if they are not convicted.
There are two ways to brand a determination to accuse someone. The most mutual procedure is for the prosecutor or commune attorney themselves to make this decision. If they determine that there is sufficient evidence to plant probable cause that the person was responsible for a criminal human action, they can file a criminal complaint. The plaintiff in the action (the party bringing the accuse) is oft referred to as The People, as in The People vs. O.J. Simpson.
Alternatively, the prosecutor tin take the case to the one thousand jury. There are mandated federal grand juries and optional state-level grand juries.
Federal vs. State Grand Juries
When a person is accused of violating a serious federal law-breaking, the federal prosecutor must seek an indictment from a grand jury in social club to prosecute someone. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution requires this for every federal felony and also for otherwise infamous crimes. This mandate is non extended to lower crimes, and prosecutors merely file federal misdemeanor charges themselves.
States are not mentioned in the 5th Amendment, but many states follow a similar procedure for the prosecution of serious crimes. State rules vary as to how many k jurors are seated and the percentage that must agree in order to enter an indictment. And some states use an easier, culling procedure where the person to be charged is chosen to a preliminary hearing where a judge determines probable cause.
Chiliad Jury Proceedings
Federal grand juries are made upward of betwixt 16 and 23 members selected from the community, and their names are not released to the public. The hearing is conducted in secret with no approximate present, and the defendant is not represented past an attorney. In fact, defendants are usually not present, and prosecutor'due south witnesses are not subject field to cross-examination. Rather, the prosecutor offers their evidence, and the jurors themselves can ask questions. Virtually any type of evidence is permitted, even prove that would exist excluded at trial.
If a grand jury determines that there is probable cause to accuse the person criminally, information technology issues a "true neb," ordinarily called an indictment. Note that a unanimous vote is not required, only a elementary majority. If the jury decides that there is not sufficient evidence to indict, they issue a "no pecker." The standard of proof is much lower for an indictment than for a conviction at trial, since the yard jury is determining merely whether there is probable cause to accuse someone with committing a crime.
State Grand Jury Indictments
Since states are not mandated by law to employ a yard jury, even for felony charges, those states that opt to practise so can determine their own 1000 jury rules and procedures. In almost states, chiliad juries function very much like federal k juries. However, bug like how many thou jurors are seated and how many votes are required for an indictment vary among states.
For example, in California the number of grand jurors depends on the population of the county. Counties having more than than 4 million inhabitants must seat 23 jurors, those with 20,000 or fewer inhabitants must seat 11, and the large middle swath must seat nineteen. An indictment is said to crave a preponderance of the evidence and requires eight votes of 11 jurors, 12 votes of 19 grand jurors, and 14 votes of 23 jurors.
In contrast, Texas mandates 12 thou jurors for every county, and ix of the 12 are needed to vote for a truthful neb indictment. In Illinois, there must be 16 yard jurors per county, with 12 required to indict at a jury trial. In almost states, even if a yard jury does not return an indictment, prosecutors can still file a criminal complaint if they believe that the show warrants it.
Source: https://legalbeagle.com/7371747-mean-indicted.html
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