A criminal indictment is a written document which formally accuses someone of violating criminal law. In some nations, a criminal indictment is required before someone can be brought to trial, while in other regions there may be other ways to bring people to trial, depending on the structure of the judicial system. Indictments are generally handed down by a grand jury, a group of individuals who meet to confirm that a crime occurred and to identify a likely suspect, with the assistance of presentations from people such as government attorneys.
In a criminal indictment, the document formally spells out the crime committed and provides a brief description of the nature of the crime and the details, naming an accused suspect. If someone is being indicted for committing multiple crimes, the criminal indictment will include a separate “count” for each crime. For example, someone could be indicted on one count of kidnapping and one count of murder if he or she is believed to have kidnapped and murdered someone.
The indictment is an important step in the judicial process. Before a criminal indictment can be issued, criminal investigators have to explore the crime, gather evidence, find potential suspects, and conduct general investigative work with the goal of building a strong case. With this information in hand, a government attorney can approach a grand jury and request a criminal indictment so that someone can be tried in court for the crime.
In some cases, an attorney may request that grand jury proceedings and the subsequent indictment be sealed. This is done when there is a concern about the safety of people on the grand jury, people who may present evidence, and other members of the community, or when there is a worry that the person being indicted may flee before the formal accusation can be issued. In these cases, the seal is lifted once the accused is apprehended and brought to trial. If the accused cannot be apprehended, the indictment will be remain sealed and the case will be kept open in the hopes that someday the suspected perpetrator can be tried in court.
Many legal systems rest upon the premise that people are presumed innocent. An indictment is a formal accusation, but it is not a verdict. Being indicted does not mean that someone has committed a crime, it only means that there is evidence which seems to indicate that someone committed a crime, and that the government feels that there is enough evidence to bring the accused to trial.
