charges filed
Legal action initiated
Charges filed describes the formal step when a prosecutor officially accuses someone of a crime by submitting documentation to a court.
Until charges are filed, an arrest doesn't necessarily lead to prosecution—police may detain someone, but prosecutors decide whether to proceed: The district attorney announced that charges have been filed against three suspects.
Filing charges initiates the criminal legal process.
- indictmentFormal charge from jury
- arraignmentCharge-reading court session
- prosecutorGovernment's trial lawyer
- defendantParty facing charges
- lawsuitCivil court proceeding
legal action · police report · criminal · complaint · accused · court · court date · arrest · arrest warrant · allegations · grand jury · felony · misdemeanor · warrant · booking · bail · suspect · evidence
- criminal justicearrest, jail, court, prison, crime
- arrestarrest, handcuffs, Miranda warning, booking, custody
- police recordspolice records, arrest report, police reports, incident report, arrest records
- pretrialarraignment, bail hearing, bond hearing, booking, first appearance
charges filedcharges dropped
case closed · acquittal · case dismissed · exonerated · not guilty verdict
charges filedexonerated
Cleared of wrongdoing
found not guilty · acquitted · vindicated · absolved · freed
charge, charges, charged, charging, charger, chargers, chargeable, recharge, recharged