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Paul D. Cramm

What Does It Mean to Be Indicted?


Interviewer: What does it mean to be indicted?

Paul: It is the equivalent of being formally ‘charged’ with a crime. An indictment hearing is a private hearing that a prosecutor will have with a grand jury. The prosecutor will convene a jury and at that time, there will be no defense lawyer and no defendants in the room. It’s the prosecutor’s opportunity to present evidence from an investigation to a random jury of 16-23 persons.

A Grand Jury Decides If There Is Probable Cause to Proceed with Formal Charges

Those 16-23 persons will decide whether or not they believe there is probable cause to believe that the law has been violated and to believe who may have been involved in this violation of law.  And the decision in a grand jury to indict need not be unanimous – like a finding of guilt in a criminal jury trial.

The prosecutor presents the evidence they have to a grand jury. The jury is not deciding whether or not these people are guilty, the jury is just there to decide whether or not the prosecutor has probable cause to proceed with formal charges. That is sort of an overview of what indictment means.

Interviewer: If I’ve been asked questions and gone ahead and retained a lawyer, then that’s not even something that my lawyer would sit in on is it?

Paul: Correct.

Interviewer: What they have to do?

If You Are Aware You Are the Subject of an Investigation and Have Retained Counsel, Your Attorney Can Meet with the Prosecutor Prior to a Grand Jury Convening

Paul: The lawyer certainly would be in touch with the prosecuting agency, hopefully before they convene this grand jury, the lawyer has the chance to talk with the prosecutor a little bit about the case. During their discussion, the lawyer gauges if there’s any opportunity for the clients to provide some meaningful cooperation with the prosecutor.

That may be of great benefit to the client, if they acknowledge that they have some involvement in whatever the prosecutor’s investigating and they have some information that may be helpful to the prosecutor. We would like to discuss that before the prosecutor proceeds with formal indictment.


Call today for free consultation to discuss your case: (913) 322-3265.  I represent clients facing serious criminal charges throughout the Kansas City Metro area including the municipalities of Johnson County, Kansas: De Soto, Gardner, Leawood, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village and Shawnee and the District of Kansas, the Western District of Missouri and the District of Nebraska.

Paul D. Cramm

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