Criminal proceedings examples

A criminal case has numerous distinct stages, only one of which is the trial.
Criminal cases usually begin with the defendant’s arrest by police.
This may occur after police respond to a call or during a traffic stop, or when police identify a suspect during an investigation.

Criminal procedure deals with the set of rules governing the series of proceedings through which the government enforces substantive criminal law.
Municipalities, states, and the federal government each have their own criminal codes, defining types of conduct that constitute crimes .
Title 18 of the U.S.
Code outlines all federal crimes.

In a criminal case, the private party may be known as the defendant or the accused.
A criminal case in the United States against a person named Ms.
Sanchez would be entitled United States v. (short for versus, or against) Sanchez if initiated by the federal government; if brought by a state, the case would typically be called State v.

Allegations of criminal behavior should be brought to the local police, the FBI, or another appropriate law enforcement agency.
Criminal cases differ from civil cases.
At the beginning of a federal criminal case, the principal actors are the U.S.
Attorney (the prosecutor) and the grand jury.