If you or your loved one has been accused of a crime, contact the St. Petersburg criminal attorneys at Goldman Wetzel for legal assistance: All capital felony cases require an indictment. Prosecutors have much discretion when it comes to deciding whether to prosecute a defendant, what charges to pursue, and the means through which to file the charges.
In federal cases , capital felony cases, and other serious felony cases, the prosecutor usually needs the grand jury to indict the defendant.
The only parties involved in the grand jury process are the jury and the prosecutor. Neither the accused party nor his attorneys can attend and offer and arguments, and there is no judge. In most state cases, the case commences by an information.
In this situation, the prosecutor pursues charges via a complaint at a preliminary hearing, which is very different from the grand jury process. During the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor presents a list of charges and evidence; however, unlike with a grand jury indictment, the defendant and his attorney are in attendance and can challenge the charges, i.
It is essential that during this period your criminal defense attorney negotiate on your behalf to see if the prosecutor will dismiss the warrant before you are formally charged. This is generally the quickest way to get rid of the case, and to have it eventually be off your record. A nol pros is fairly common and can occur very early in the case all the way up to the eve of trial. A dismissal or nol pros is the best case scenario because it ends the case without having to go through the risk of trial.
If you have any further questions about the criminal justice process in Georgia, contact us today so we can answer your questions and schedule a free consultation. Other times, however, an arrest warrant comes after a period of investigation. This is usually happens with more serious crimes. A person […]. So, if prosecutors need to move quickly in making an arrest, they may file a complaint or information. After the defendant is arrested, the government will have to go to a grand jury and obtain an indictment, unless the defendant chooses to waive that requirement and proceed by information.
A felony case cannot go forward on the basis of a complaint alone. By including the indictment requirement in the Fifth Amendment, the Framers intended that the grand jury — a body of ordinary citizens — would act as a buffer against an overzealous prosecutor. But in reality, the indictment requirement presents a relatively low hurdle to criminal prosecution. Prosecutors control all the evidence that the grand jury sees. They instruct the grand jury on the law.
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