How to File a Federal Criminal Case

One of the major differences between a federal criminal case and a civil one is that it is the government that files a criminal case against the individual. A person or group of persons must be charged with and arrested for a crime before federal criminal case can be filed against them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Lawyer

File Charges by the Federal Government in a Criminal Case

1. Arrest an individual for a specified crime against the state. Once this has been done, the U.S. attorney's office will file charges with the federal court system.
2. Submit the factual information of the case to the grand jury for review. The grand jury will decide whether there is enough evidence to compel the accused to stand trial.
3. Gather pertinent information during the pretrial period. During this period, interviews will be conducted and information gathered that a judge will then use to determine whether the defendant represents a threat to society or a flight risk, or can be released back into society on bail until the trail takes place.
4. Bring the defendant before a federal criminal judge to be advised of her rights. The judge will advise the defendant of her right to representation and will now decide whether there is probable cause to hold the defendant.
5. Enter a defendant plea. The defendant now responds to the charges against him with a plea of guilty, not guilty or other applicable plea. More than 9 out of 10 defendants in federal criminal cases enter a plea of guilty.
6. Go to trial if it is warranted. In a federal criminal case, it is the government that must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has been committed and by the named defendant.
7. Wait for a verdict and a sentence.

File an Appeal to a Federal Criminal Case

8. File a direct appeal in accordance with legal statute. Every defendant who has been convicted of a crime in a federal criminal case has the legal right to file a direct appeal. Even if you've been found guilty, that verdict will not become final until it has been upheld on appeal.
9. File your direct appeal to the appeals court and wait for a decision. An appeals court is not a trial court and you will not be called to testify again in front of the appeals judge.
10. Prepare for a retrial, resentencing or other outcome. Appeals courts do not hear new evidence, but rather check to verify that proper legal proceedings were followed during the trial. If some legal error was made, the appeals court may call for a new trial or different sentence. In some rare cases, when a defendant is ineligible to be tried again for the same crime, the trial court decision may be overturned and the case dismissed.

Tips & Warnings

• There is a considerable backlog in the U.S. court system. Legal proceedings often move very slowly.