Indicted Meaning: Formally Charged, Not Yet Found Guilty

Indicted meaning, step by step

So what does indicted mean in practice? In the United States the usual path for a serious federal crime looks like this:

1. Investigation. Police or federal agents gather evidence.
2. Grand jury. A prosecutor presents that evidence to a grand jury, a group of ordinary citizens (16 to 23 people in federal cases) who meet in private. The accused person usually does not present a defence at this stage.
3. Decision. If enough jurors find probable cause, meaning a reasonable basis to believe a crime was committed and the person committed it, they return a "true bill." The person is now indicted.
4. The indictment. A written document lists each charge, called a count.
5. Arraignment and trial. The defendant appears in court, enters a plea, and the case moves toward trial or settlement.

If the grand jury refuses, it returns a "no bill," and there is no indictment on those charges.

Indicted, charged, arrested, convicted

A person can be indicted without ever being arrested, and arrested without ever being indicted. Every indictment is a charge, but not every charge comes from an indictment: in many US states, prosecutors can file a document called an information after a preliminary hearing instead.

Indicted in the US, the UK and India

United States. The Constitution's Fifth Amendment requires a grand jury indictment for serious federal crimes. States vary: some use grand juries for felonies, others rely mainly on prosecutors' filings.

United Kingdom. Grand juries were abolished long ago, but the word survives. An "indictable offence" is a serious crime tried in the Crown Court, and the indictment is the formal written list of charges.

India. The criminal process speaks of a court "framing charges" rather than indicting. In Indian news, though, "indicted" is often used more loosely, for example when an inquiry report blames officials for a failure.

Examples in sentences

• The former treasurer was indicted on six counts of fraud.
• He has been indicted but not convicted, so the trial will decide the facts.
• A sealed indictment was opened in court this morning, revealing the names of the accused.
• The grand jury declined to indict the driver, finding the crash was an accident.
• The audit report reads like an indictment of the city's maintenance budget.

The figurative sense: an indictment of something

Outside court, indictment often means strong evidence that something is wrong, or harsh criticism of it. "Long hospital waiting lists are an indictment of the health system" does not mean anyone was charged; it means the situation reflects badly on the system. Formal writers stretch the verb too: "The report indicts years of poor planning." This sense is common in editorials and speeches.

Spelling, sound and origin

Indict is one of English's famous silent letters. The word came from Anglo-French enditer, to write down or accuse, from a Latin form built on dictare, to declare. It was first recorded around 1300 and often spelled endite or indite. Around 1600 writers added a c to make it look more like Latin, but the pronunciation did not change, so indict still rhymes with invite.

Do not confuse it with indite, an old word meaning to write or compose, which sounds the same. Related legal words on this site include affidavit and habeas corpus, and you can find more in law, politics and society.