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Photo of Joshua Nielsen
Photo of Joshua Nielsen
Photo of Joshua Nielsen

I’ve been charged with a Felony, but I have not been Indicted, why?

by | May 6, 2016 | criminal defense

Often, individuals are charged with felonies and their court dates are set for district court. As many people may know, felonies are typically dealt with in Superior Court and cannot be handled or disposed of through plea or trial in district court.

However, there are many reasons that someone who has initially been charged with a felony may be in district court.

  1. The defendant or the person charged may need to be arraigned (a judge tells you what you have been charged with and the possible sentence range);
  2. Bond hearing on certain lower level felonies;
  3. Misdemeanors have also been charged with the felony(ies);
  4. The DA has not taken the case to the grand jury for indictment yet, which is often the most common reason.

But when will the State or DA indict a case? This is solely in the prosecutor’s discretion. The DA does face statute of limitations on many crimes to actually indict the case, but they also can wait until their case is ready to present before indicting.

See our other post on grand juries and probable cause hearings – CLICK HERE

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