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THE
PROCESS
AND
EXAMPLES
OF FELONIES.
Felony is defined as a crime that results in prisonsentencing
for a year or longer. They are crimes that areknown to cause
serious damage to a property or a victimand are considered
dangerous to the community. Crimesthat are felonies are critical
and therefore the penalties forFelonies are much severe.
Before you proceed to know a few examples of felonies, youwould
need to understand what is a felony? What happensin a case of a
felony and what are the consequences.
What is a felony?
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A misdemeanor crime may involve a jail term that is nolonger
than a year compared to a felony where the jailterm is always more
than a year.Fines and bail amount in a misdemeanor case areminimal
compared to a felony. Felonies are seriouscrimes and hence the bail
bond is usually set at a highamount‘Wobbler’ as the name suggests
is a crime that will beconsidered under a misdemeanor or a felony
dependingon the severity of the case.Crimes under a felony usually
take more court time thana misdemeanor as the burden of proof is
not as much asin a felony case.
Felonies are acts of violence whereas a misdemeanor is aless
severe crime.
How is a felony different from a Misdemeanor orcitations?
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The Process of a felony caseAs mentioned above a felony case the
burden of proof ismuch higher than a misdemeanor. There is evidence
andwitness required at every stage of the trail. Below is
theprocess of a felony case:
Felony crimes are mostly dealt with by attorneys on bothsides of
a trial. Hence a licensed attorney will register acomplaint against
the defendant before the United StatesMagistrate. AT this point
there is enough evidence for theMagistrate to register the
complaint and consider theoffense as a crime under Constitutional
Laws of The UnitedStates. At the same time upon the acceptance of
thecomplaint, the magistrate will issue an arrest warrant.
Registration of a complaint
The magistrate has to be assured of the seriousness of thecrime
and that it has occurred. Hence before an arrestwarrant goes out
the law enforcement will interrogate thevictim if possible and the
witnesses. The statements givenby them are reported to the
Assistant United StatesAttorney assigned to the case. The attorney
in some casesmay also interview the victim and the witnesses to
preparea strong case with relevant charges that can be
appliedagainst the defendant.
Interviewing the victims
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In the preliminary hearing, the evidence in the case
isdiscussed. Witness and physical evidence to prove thecause and
intent of the felony. The prosecuting attorney hasto provide enough
evidence to push the case to a trial.Witnesses are Subpoenaed to be
present during thepreliminary hearing
The defendant is made aware of the rights of theaccused as per
the constitution and The Bill of RightsThe defendant gets an
attorney known as the criminaldefense attorney if they cannot hire
an attorneythemselvesThe court also sets the bail amount and the
courtdecides if the defendant is worthy of bail at this point inthe
court case.
The initial appearance of the defendant in the court ismostly on
the same day as the arrest. Without any timebeing wasted, there are
three important components to theprocess of the initial hearing
that are explained to thedefendant
In many felony cases, the defendant is released after theinitial
trial and they need to post a money bond guaranteethat they will
reappear for the trials and any future hearings.If the defendant is
not allowed to be released, a bail amountis decided. The defendant
is locked up in prison. For anydefendant who is released, they need
to follow someserious guidelines such as not tampering with any
evidenceor meeting the witness and victims, or threatening
them.
The Initial Court Appearance
Preliminary Hearing
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A grand jury is a group of select 23 citizens who are set
uptogether by the court to judge the evidence against thedefendant.
The witnesses are put under the oath. They aresworn to make an
impartial, non-discriminatory judgment ofthe evidence and weigh
both sides of the case equally. Ifthe defendant is charged by the
jury it is called anindictment. If the jury decides that there
should not be anyprosecution in the case then they will return a no
true billand no indictment will be issued in this case.
Grand Jury Hearing
The defendant is informed about the charges which arecontinued
in the indictment by the jury. The conditions ofthe bail are
reviewed and the date is set for trial.
Arraignment on the jury's indictment
Just before the trial, the court may keep a session to hearthe
motion set by the defendant. These may includemotions to suppress
or hide evidence, to compel discovery,or resolve some legal
issues.During the same time, the witness is asked by the
stateattorney to appear in the court for a conference to
preparethem for the trial. This is to review the responses of
thewitness against the evidence that is to be presented duringthe
trial.
Motion by the defendant and witness
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The trial date is informed to the witness with a
subpoena.Failing to adhere to a subpoena the court fine the
witness.A felony trial; follows the same pattern as any other case
inthe court. Both prosecution and the defense have
openingstatements. Each side presents its case to the jury and
thejudge. Both sides examine and cross-examine the witnessand the
evidence in the case. This was followed by aclosing argument and
statement by the attorneys.
The Trial
A presentence investigation report is prepared after
thedefendant is convicted by the United States ProbationOffice. The
penalty for the case is entirely decided by theJudge. There may be
fine and jail or fine or probation for acertain number of years
under the supervision of the court.Compensation to the victim is
decided after reading theVictim Impact report which offers an
insight into thedamages faced by the victim. It may be financial,
physical,emotional, or psychological damage.
Penalty
Sometimes crimes involve many people. Even if the mainculprit is
convicted there are chances that the witness andthe victim have a
danger to their lives from others who arein a relationship with the
felon. A felon is a person who ischarged with a Felony. In such
cases, the court orderssecurity for the witness and victim that may
include hidingof the identity and change of names, etc.
Protection of the victim and witnesses
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MurderManslaughterFelony AssaultArsonKidnappingBurglary Tax
EvasionAnimal CrueltyGrand LarcenySale or manufacturing of
drugsChild PornographyTreason
Example of Crimes in Felonies
SummaryIf you or anyone you know are facing charges of a
felony.You must seek the advice of a Criminal Defense Lawyer.Only a
qualified lawyer can help a felony accused. As theconvict not only
faces jail time but also the crime goes on apermanent personal
record. Click here to learn more on such legal matters.
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