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Indictable offenses require a preliminary hearing to determine the seriousness of the crime. An indictment is a written document allowing prosecution for a specific crime. In the US, indictable offenses are known as felonies and are reserved for serious crimes. The prosecution must prove the existence of the offense before trial. Defendants may waive their right to a jury trial in some countries.
An indictable offense is an offense that can only be tried after a preliminary hearing has been held, to determine the seriousness of the offense in question. This decision is made by a separate jury before the prosecution, based on the evidence provided by the prosecution attorneys. This terminology is specific to countries that have common law jurisdiction.
An indictment is a written document that allows the state legal counsel to proceed with the prosecution of an individual or group of individuals for a specific crime. This documentation is provided by a jury – known as a grand jury in the United States – which is convened specifically for the purpose of determining whether there is sufficient evidence to go to trial. This jury may be selected by the prosecution and is usually made up of a group of legal citizens.
In the United States, an indictable offense may also be known as a felony. Felony charges are reserved for crimes that are serious enough to warrant confinement in a state penitentiary or the death penalty. These types of crimes include murder, grand larceny, rape, kidnapping, conspiracy, and arson, among others. They are only tried in state level courts due to the state’s ability to punish such crimes. City and county courts are reserved for misdemeanors and are unable to execute criminals or sentence them to long incarcerations in maximum security facilities.
The prosecution must first prove that an indictable offense occurred before trial. This is different from proving that a defendant is guilty of committing the crime in question. The purpose of the preliminary hearing is only to determine the seriousness of the crime. The prosecution has yet to convince a separate jury that the accused defendants are responsible for that crime.
Once the existence of an indictable crime has been established, the prosecution can seek the maximum punishment for the defendant. Without this initial step, judicial process may be required to try certain crimes locally. For example, not all forms of theft are considered grand larceny. Some types of theft may be charged as a felony, such as for stealing small items such as clothes or groceries. Theft of larger and more expensive items may be considered grand theft, like taking someone else’s car, for which the sentence must be served in a maximum security state or government prison.
Some countries allow defendants the option of waiving their rights to a jury trial. In the UK, this is done to be heard in a magistrate’s court. Some crimes, however, are deemed too heinous for this option and must therefore proceed to trial.
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