What is an Indictment: A Guide on Everything to Know and Expect

[Ptarmigan]

What is an Indictment: A Guide on Everything to Know and Expect
https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/latest-articles/what-is-an-indictment-a-guide-on-everything-to-know-and-expect

What Is an Indictment?
An indictment is a formal accusation, based upon available evidence, that a person has committed a serious crime. If there’s enough evidence to prove that a person committed a crime, then they’re indicted.

The most important thing to know about indictments is that they’re not required for every single crime. On a federal level, they’re only required for felonies who’ll be heard by federal courts.

States aren’t required to indict every person who they believe has violated the law. That said, many states have passed laws that require an indictment to charge someone with a felony crime. These states include Massachusettes, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

The really confusing part is that an indictment can come at very different parts of the trial process.

Some jurisdictions pursue an indictment prior to placing someone under arrest, while others place someone under arrest, and then send the case out for indictment. Most of the time, a person will know that police are interested in them for a crime; it’s normally not something that takes someone by surprise.

Indictment is a formal accusation.

What Happens After Indictment?
After you’re indicted, then you’ll go to trial. Getting to trial, however, isn’t as cut and dry as it’s portrayed on television. There will be numerous pre-trial hearings, and depending on how busy the courts are in your state, it can be months or even years before you’ll ever make it before a jury.

If the prosecutor is amenable to working with you, your defense attorney may be able to work out a plea deal for you. A plea deal means that you plead guilty or no contest to the charges and serve a lesser punishment than you would’ve had if your case went to trial and you were convicted. Your attorney must bring every plea deal offered by the prosecution to you in order to make a decision on whether to accept.

Lastly, if you’re convicted of a crime, you have the right to appeal the conviction.

An indictment does not always mean going to trial. The indicted person may go to trial or not.

[Ptarmigan]

Can Charges Be Dropped After Indictment?
https://ravellawfirm.com/can-charges-be-dropped-after-indictment/

If you are facing criminal allegations, you might be curious to know how to drop or dismiss these charges. I’ll first respond to the most asked question, Can charges be dropped after an indictment?

Keep in mind that not all indictments lead to a trial. Many accusations are dropped before a trial through conversations between the prosecutors and defense lawyers. However, only the prosecutor has the power to dismiss these allegations.

This can happen when you are supported by an experienced and knowledgeable criminal defense lawyer. Attorneys are aware of various circumstances that can work against the determination of the case, including lack of sufficient evidence, unreliable witnesses, and inadmissible proof.

Indictment does not always lead to trial. Some charges are dropped before trial. Prosecutors have the power to drop charges.

Reasons Why Charges May Be Dropped After Indictment

-Insufficient evidence: If the prosecutor determines that the evidence against the defendant is lacking, the charges may be dropped. Or perhaps new details come to light that refutes the accusations made by the prosecution against the defendant.
-Fourth Amendment Violations: If evidence was improperly obtained, like without a search warrant, the prosecutor might decide not to press charges. The prosecutor is aware that the evidence won’t be admitted in court if it is gathered in a way that violates the plaintiff’s constitutional rights.
-Procedural Mistakes: Another technicality might result in the dismissal of the charges. When making an arrest, booking a suspect, and holding them in custody until their hearing or trial, police must adhere to specific criminal procedures. These administrative mistakes might be reasons for case dismissal or penalty reduction if a defendant’s rights were infringed.
-Resource Issues: The prosecution, a government employee, can merely handle an excessive number of cases and not enough resources. The worst offenders may need to be dropped.
Willingness to Cooperate: If prosecutors learn that you are willing to collaborate with law authorities to help uncover similar crimes or cooperate in other instances, they may be convinced by your lawyer to reach a deal to drop your case completely.

In any case, your defense counsel can make a case on your part to drop a charge by referencing these reasons to the prosecutor.

[Drafe Hoblin]

Bragg has the bigger problems himself.  Prosecutorial misconduct and prosecutorial misconduct via protracted litigation.  The latter is already underway... chuh-ching.  Money hole.

[DefiantSix]

Bragg has the bigger problems himself.  Prosecutorial misconduct and prosecutorial misconduct via protracted litigation.  The latter is already underway... chuh-ching.  Money hole.

Bragg's biggest problem is that in 99% of his cases, his opponents don't have the resources of his office to spend on fighting him.

He's now picked a fight with one who does, and it's not going to go well. One of the things that always fighting the guy who doesn't have the resources to fight back does, is that it makes you lazy. Bragg is about to discover that laziness won't cut it here.

[Drafe Hoblin]

Bragg's biggest problem is that in 99% of his cases, his opponents don't have the resources of his office to spend on fighting him.

He's now picked a fight with one who does, and it's not going to go well. One of the things that always fighting the guy who doesn't have the resources to fight back does, is that it makes you lazy. Bragg is about to discover that laziness won't cut it here.

Now city-workers have to remove all the bike-racks --I mean 'steel barriers', for the riots that never materialized.  Don Jr. said that NYC has spent 2-million since Friday. 

[RuralNc]

Bragg's biggest problem is that in 99% of his cases, his opponents don't have the resources of his office to spend on fighting him.

He's now picked a fight with one who does, and it's not going to go well. One of the things that always fighting the guy who doesn't have the resources to fight back does, is that it makes you lazy. Bragg is about to discover that laziness won't cut it here.

Im not sure Bragg even cares whether or not it goes to trial, or simply the bottom of the trash can. I think he is just trying to goose his own political ambitions.

"Im the man who brought charges against Orange Man Bad, when no one else could..."

I would say he has visions of Mayor, or Governor.