How People Get Charged with Crimes
Learn how police officers and prosecutors initiate criminal cases.
After an arrest, the arrest report is sent to a prosecutor, whose job it is to initiate and prosecute criminal cases. Arrest reports summarize the events leading up to arrests and provide numerous other details, such as dates, time, location, and weather conditions of the crime, and witnesses' names and addresses if that information is available. The prosecutor will either:
- decide that the case should be charged (as a felony or a misdemeanor), and file a complaint with the trial court.
- decide that the case should be charged as a felony and bring evidence before citizens serving as grand jurors, who will decide what charges, if any, to file, or
- decide that the matter should not be pursued.
Prosecutors can file charges on all crimes for which the police arrested a suspect. Or, they can file charges that are more or less severe than the charges leveled by the police.
Charges Must Be Filed Quickly
For suspects who are in custody, speedy trial laws typically require prosecutors to file charges, if at all, within 72 hours of arrest. Some jurisdictions require prosecutors to charge a suspect even sooner. For example, California requires that charges be filed within 48 hours. However, prosecutors' initial charges are subject to change. For example, a prosecutor may not make a final decision on what charges to file until after a preliminary hearing, which may take place more than a month after arrest.
How a Prosecutor Decides Whether to File Charges
A prosecutor's decision to file charges may be influenced by factors beyond the specific facts of the incident described in the police report. Some prosecution offices adopt policies on certain types of crimes, often in response to community pressure, and these policies may dictate the prosecutor's approach in any given case. For example, an office may decide that arrests for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol will always be taken to trial and not "plea bargained" down to lesser offenses such as reckless driving.
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