What Is A Federal Indictment? Andrew Russek, lawyer from the premier criminal defense firm Combs Waterkotte, discusses the process behind a federal indictment.
Interview Transcript
Scott Michael Dunn: What is a federal indictment, Andrew?
Andrew Russek: A federal indictment is a federal grand jury: So instead of just a grand jury in St. Louis or Jackson County, it’s a grand jury from everybody in the Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri, Southern District of Illinois.
So you have a larger jury venire panel, but otherwise it’s the same, where they present – without you present, without your attorney present, it’s totally allowed.
The prosecutor presents their evidence to these grand jurors, and that gives them a finding of probable cause, which allows them to move you forward into district court. So some federal jurisdictions wait, put everything through the grand jury.
So, as Chris said, they get all their ducks in a row. By the time you’re even aware that they are coming after you, they’ve already secured a grand jury indictment. They have all their evidence indexed, documented; they have all their witnesses they’re gonna need lined up as opposed to state court, [which] is often a little retroactive. So, police arrive, they arrest you, you show up to court, prosecutor says, “Well, I haven’t even seen the discovery yet, Judge. We’re still waiting on the police to write the police report.”
Federal court’s not like that. The AUSA is ready to roll and could go to trial in a week by the time you walk in for your detention hearing, because you just got arrested. And that changes our– how we have to address the case as well, because we have to move a lot faster.
If you’re facing federal charges and need an expert criminal defense lawyer, contact Combs Waterkotte today at (314) 900-HELP or reach out online for a free, confidential case review. We will fight for your rights and freedom.
