Criminal Procedure

Pretrial Motions in Criminal Cases Pretrial motions are one of the principal mechanisms through which criminal cases are shaped before trial. They allow the prosecution and defense to ask the court to decide legal, procedural, and evidentiary questions before the case reaches a jury or, in a bench trial, before Read more

Conditions of Pretrial Release Pretrial release does not necessarily mean that a defendant is completely free from judicial supervision. In many criminal cases, a court may permit a defendant to remain in the community while requiring compliance with specific conditions of pretrial release. These conditions are intended to reduce identified Read more

Pretrial Detention Pretrial detention is the incarceration of a person who has been accused of a crime but has not yet been convicted and sentenced for that offense. It is one of the most consequential forms of government restraint in criminal procedure because it deprives a defendant of physical liberty Read more

Bail in Criminal Cases Bail is one of the most important issues in criminal procedure because it concerns a fundamental question that arises before guilt has been determined: Should an accused person remain in custody while the criminal case is pending, or should that person be released subject to conditions Read more

Amending Criminal Charges Criminal charges are not always static. As a criminal case develops, the prosecution may discover additional facts, recognize that a charge was drafted incorrectly, determine that a different offense more accurately reflects the alleged conduct, or seek to correct a formal defect in the charging document. The Read more

Initial Appearance The initial appearance is one of the first judicial proceedings in a criminal case. It is generally the point at which a person who has been arrested or formally charged is brought before a judge or magistrate judge and the criminal process moves from law-enforcement custody into formal Read more

Indictments and Informations Criminal prosecutions must begin or proceed on the basis of a legally recognized charging instrument. In American criminal procedure, two of the most important formal charging instruments are the indictment and the information. An indictment is a formal accusation returned by a grand jury. An information is Read more

Grand Jury Indictments A grand jury indictment is a formal criminal accusation returned by a grand jury after the grand jury has considered evidence presented by the prosecution. In the federal system, the indictment is one of the principal constitutional mechanisms by which a person may be formally charged with Read more

The Grand Jury The grand jury occupies a distinctive place in American criminal procedure. Unlike the trial jury, which determines whether a defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the grand jury generally determines whether there is sufficient probable cause to formally accuse a person of a crime through an Read more