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Arrest to Arraignment

Chapter Ten

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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

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Part I Offenses a.k.a. Index Crimes

• Homicides• Forcible Rape• Robbery

• Aggravated Assault• Burglary & Larceny• Motor Vehicle Theft• Arson

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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)

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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.

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The Process

• Crime• Arrest• Initial Appearance• Charging • Preliminary Hearing• Grand Jury• Arraignment

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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. Complaint

2. Information

3. Arrest warrant

4. Indictment

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The “Wedding Cake” model

1. Celebrated cases:• O.J Simpson

• Scott Pederson

2. Serious felonies

3. Lesser Felonies

4. Misdemeanors

Layer 1

Layer 2

Layer 3

Layer 4

Samuel Walker

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