A indictment It is the formal written imputation of a serious crime that a person has committed, which is prepared by the Public Prosecutor's Office or a private accuser, based on the available evidence. If there is enough evidence to show that a person committed a crime, then they are charged.
One of the first things that happens in this process is the indictment to formally accuse a person for the crime.
If you are facing a formal charge, that does not mean that a person has been found guilty of a crime. All that an indictment means is that there was probable cause to charge someone with a crime.
The most important thing to know about indictments is that they are not required for all crimes. They are only required for serious crimes that will be heard in court.
Some jurisdictions require an indictment before putting someone under arrest, while others put someone under arrest and then send the case for indictment..
Article index
In the accusation document presented before the corresponding court, it must be indicated, in numbered and precise conclusions:
- Request to open the oral proceedings before the body that is considered competent.
- Identification of the individual or individuals accused.
- Punishable acts.
- Legal qualification of these facts, establishing the crime they constitute, expanding to minor offenses or incidental offenses attributable to the accused of the offense or to other individuals, in the event that the commission of the offense was related to the offense..
- Degree of involvement of the accused or defendants in the crime.
- Aggravating or mitigating circumstances or events of the crime, which occur in the accused or the accused, and the events that arise. Similarly, the palliative of criminal responsibility.
- Penalties that result and should be imposed on the defendant or defendants, taking into consideration the degree of intervention and the present circumstances.
- The remaining pronouncements on delivery and destination of effects and things, in addition to the requirement of procedural expenses.
- Proposal of the evidence to be tried in the trial, stating whether the summons of witnesses and experts, or the claim of documents, must be made through the regulatory office. The practice of the advanced test must also be proposed, if it could not be practiced in the act of the trial..
- Regarding the documentary evidence, the documents that interest the party will be expressly indicated by its folio number..
In addition, the private accuser and the Public Prosecutor if they support the civil action, will express:
- Replacement of the thing or the amount in which the damages and losses caused by the crime are valued, or the grounds for its subsequent determination will be established..
- People who arise as responsible for the replacement of the thing or for these damages and losses, and the reason for which they would have acquired this responsibility.
The indictment must include all the information that serves to fully identify the individual against whom the action is directed, for example:
- Names and surnames.
- Identity card number.
- Civil status.
- Age.
- Address.
Likewise, the identification of the defense attorney must be included., through of which the accused may exercise his right to defense conferred by law.
The appointment of the defender is extremely important, because through his action in the process, the right that every person accused of committing a crime has to defend himself is verified..
It consists of indicating the time, place, condition and remaining circumstances that determine the commission of the crime. That is, to narrate each event, in a detailed, chronological and correlated way.
If the accusation is contradictory and confusing, it could cause its inadmissibility, resulting in the conclusion of the criminal act, stripping the State and the victim of the actions that they could deploy in the fair compensation of their claims and rights in the process.
It is important to bear in mind that the facts contained in the prosecution are those that the control judge will consider in order to specify the objective of the trial.
After the consummation of a punishable act is known, the order will be issued to open the investigation, which corresponds to the preparatory phase. From here will come all the evidence necessary to base the accusation.
These elements are given as a result of the activities carried out during the preparatory phase, which do not make up the tests, because they will serve only as a basis to require the prosecution of an individual..
The correct presentation of the elements of conviction or evidence will be valid to establish the facts, demonstrate the presence of a crime and its respective circumstances, and attribute its commission to a specific individual..
When the accusation document is presented to the control judge, he will determine if there are enough elements to bring the accused to trial..
This warrants a correct conciliation of the events indicated with the legal regulations that include the criminal archetype that is considered to be applicable to the case, according to its peculiarities. Therefore, this translates into the legal grounds that generate the exercise of criminal action, this work being of special relevance.
The judge must decide on the need and relevance of the evidence, reversing this in the requirement to indicate, briefly and succinctly, the relationship between the alleged fact and the evidence offered..
The courts may restrict the means of proof provided to prove a circumstance or fact, if it has already been sufficiently proven with the tests carried out..
The petition for the prosecution of the accused must be made. What is sought is to open the trial phase in order to demonstrate through it the guilt of the accused.
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The indicated model of the indictment is presented, according to several examples taken from criminal cases in Mexico.
As can be seen, the model has many spaces to fill, depending on the particularities of each case. It is very important to be able to verify very well all the information included in this model, since the judge will take as the basis for his decision only and exclusively what is indicated in the writing.
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