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The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution provides, in part, that a person charged with a crime has the right “to be informed of the nature and cause of the charge.” Therefore, in any federal prosecution, the law establishing the crime in the indictment must define the offence in sufficiently clear terms so that the average person is informed of the acts that fall within its scope. The prosecution must also inform the accused, in clear and unambiguous language, of the offence with which he or she is charged under the law. A defendant has the same rights when charged with violating state criminal law, since the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the guarantees of the Sixth Amendment to states. The document in which the indictment is set out – such as an indictment, denunciation or complaint – is called an indictment. When you say that someone is guilty of doing something wrong, you are making an accusation, such as your accusation that your brother used your computer without asking. Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for Prosecution “Indictment”. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accusation. Retrieved 29 September 2022. Most state constitutions contain language similar to that of the Sixth Amendment. In many state codes of criminal procedure, the prosecutorial instrument serves to protect the constitutional rights of the accused. In Louisiana, for example, the purpose of a newsletter is to inform a defendant of the nature and reason for the charge against him, as required by the Louisiana Constitution (State v.

Stevenson, 2003 WL 183998 [La. App. 2003]). These sample sentences are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “indictment.” The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. To accuse comes from the verb to accuse, which means to accuse someone of a crime. It is important to remember that an indictment occurs when someone thinks someone else has done something wrong or committed a crime. However, this does not mean that the person is guilty. There must be evidence – an investigation or trial, even an admission of guilt – before a conviction, which means that the person is truly guilty. An indictment unofficially indicates that a person has committed an illegal or immoral act. An indictment is also the formal indictment of a person for a crime, either by a prosecutor who brings charges against that person or by a grand jury indictment against that person. Nglish: Translation of the indictment for Spanish speakers n.

1) In legal terms, the indictment means formally charging someone with a crime, either by grand jury indictment or by indictment by a district attorney. (2) Desecrate any allegation of misconduct by another person. To revoke a briefing letter or other indictment, the accused must present direct evidence, not supported by the record, that the invoice was inadequate. As a general rule, the onus is on the accused to prove that the prosecution was inadequate. The rules of evidence of a particular court apply to the finding of proof of the sufficiency of the act of prosecution. A formal criminal complaint against a person accused of having committed a criminal offence brought before a court or judge competent to investigate the alleged offence. ACCUSATION, crim. An indictment against a competent official against someone who has committed a crime or misdemeanor so that he or she can be brought to justice and punished. 2. Failure to charge may, in certain cases, be regarded as a misdemeanour or misconduct.

(S. A.) 1 bro. Civ. Law, 247; 2 Id. 389; Inst. lib. 4, Tit. 18. 3. It is a rule that no human being is obliged to accuse himself or testify against himself in criminal proceedings. Accusare nemo se debet nisi coram Deo.

See the evidence; Interest; Witness. See, for example, Rothgery v. Gillespie County, Tex., 554 U.S. 191 (2008) and U.S. v. Patterson, 150 U.S. 65 (1893). Middle English accusacioun, borrowed from English-French, borrowed from Latin accÅ«sÄtiÅn-, accÅ«sÄtiÅ, de accÅ«sÄre `guilty, accusation of a crime` + -tiÅn-, -tiÅ, suffix of the names of action to more on the accusation.