does that mean the prosecutors office has already arrested someone, or that their is a warrant for them. is that language used for people who have no kind of warrant or anything but are just being investigated or is it usually for warrants and already arrested. what does "plans to charge" mean?
2007-08-22 17:54:58 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
what about the term "facing criminal charges"?
2007-08-22 17:56:53 · update #1
Prosecutors don't arrest people. The police do. It just means that they plan on charging the person and they will go to trial. When a cop arrests someone for a state crime, the prosecutors office reads the report and decides whether or not to press charges. If they say they plan to bring charges against the person then they will issue a warrant if the person is not in custody and if the person is in custody already then they will wait for their trial.
Hope that helped
2007-08-22 18:05:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
That is more an issue for a news media question. From a law enforcement perspective, "facing charges" would mean that charges have actually been filed. "Plans to charge" would involve a situation where a report has been filed with a person in custody and the press has asked the status and the prosecutor's office is basically telling them what charges have been typed up (or are being typed up) but they haven't been officially filed yet (most likely when a news agency is reporting against deadline and needs an answer this minute).
2007-08-22 18:29:10 · answer #2 · answered by Tmess2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means exactly what it says.
The person may or may not have been arrested, and a warrant may or may not have been issued.
The only thing for certain is that charges have not yet been formally filed (no arraignment, no grand jury) -- but the prosecutor has them in their sights.
2007-08-22 19:51:55 · answer #3 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When someone is arrested they are a suspect of a crime. The police do the arresting and District Attorney's office files the charges.
2007-08-22 18:03:00 · answer #4 · answered by Sam S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That means they know that one person did it for sure but they may have had friends with them at the time.
2007-08-22 18:01:13 · answer #5 · answered by Steven C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋