Arrest to Arraignment
Chapter Ten
1
UCR Reports
• The FBI publishes the Uniform Crime
Reports.
• Uniform Crime Reports divide criminal
offenses into two categories:
– Type I offenses: Index crimes
– Type II offenses
2
Part I Offenses a.k.a. Index Crimes
• Homicides
• Forcible Rape
• Robbery
•
•
•
•
Aggravated Assault
Burglary & Larceny
Motor Vehicle Theft
Arson
3
Type II “Offenses
• All Other crimes except traffic citations
• Examples:
–
–
–
–
–
Drug Offenses
Liquor law violations
Sex offenses (not rape)
Juvenile offenses
Weapons offenses (not aggravated assault)
4
Arrests
• 21% of crimes investigated by police result in an
arrest.
• Clearance rate for violent crimes is 50%.
• Clearance rate for property crimes is only 18%.
• Est. 13.7 MILLION arrests are made annually for
non-traffic related arrests.
• 2.2 MILLION of these arrests are for serious
crimes such as homicide, rape, arson, aggravated
assault, robbery, burglary, auto theft, and larceny.
5
The Process
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Crime
Arrest
Initial Appearance
Charging
Preliminary Hearing
Grand Jury
Arraignment
6
Initial Appearance
• The accused is told of the charges, advised
of rights, bail is set, and a date for the
preliminary hearing is set.
• Occurs within a few hours or few days of
arrest.
• Coleman v. Alabama: defendant has a right
to counsel if the initial appearance is a
“critical stage” in the proceedings.
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Charging
•
•
Charging document: a brief description of
the date and location of the offense.
Four types of charging document:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Complaint
Information
Arrest warrant
Indictment
8
Preliminary Hearing
• Pre-trial hearing to determine if there is probable
cause to hold the accused for further proceedings.
• Prosecutor has to establish probable cause that a
crime has been committed and that the defendant
committed it.
• County of Riverside v. McLaughlin: An individual
may be jailed for up to 48 hours without a
hearing before a magistrate to determine whether
the arrest was proper.
9
Grand Jury
• Emerged in English law in 1176.
• Impaneled for set period of time (usually 3
months) with selected citizens.
• Numbers range from 6 to 23 depending upon
population.
• Hurtado v California (1984) allows states to have
the option of either Grand Jury indictment or
information.
• It may also be an “independent” investigating
body.
10
Grand Jury Terminology
• Indictment: formal accusation of a crime
made by the grand jury.
• True Bill: the grand jury finds the charges
to be true.
• No true bill of no bill: the grand jury finds
that the charges are insufficient to justify a
trial.
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Arraignment
• The defendant is formally informed of the
charges pending and must enter a plea.
• Differs from initial appearance in the sense
that felony defendants may not enter a plea
at the initial appearance, but can at the
arraignment.
• Hamilton v. Alabama: Defendant has the
right to court-appointed counsel if indigent.
12
The “Wedding Cake” model
1. Celebrated cases:
•
•
O.J Simpson
Scott Pederson
2. Serious felonies
Layer 1
Layer 2
Layer 3
3. Lesser Felonies
Layer 4
4. Misdemeanors
Samuel
Walker
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