Bill of Indictment

A formal written document that is drawn up by a government prosecutor accusing a designated person of having committed a felony or misdemeanor and which is presented to a Grand Jury so that it may take action upon it.

bill of indictment (US)

a formal document accusing a person or persons of crime, formerly presented to a grand jury for certification as a true bill but now signed by a court official.

Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006

BILL OF INDICTMENT. A written accusation of one or more persons, of a crime or misdemeanor, lawfully presented to a grand jury, convoked, to consider whether there is sufficient evidence of the charge contained therein to put the accused on trial. It is returned to the court with an indorsement of true bill (q. v.) when the grand jury are satisfied that the accused ought to be tried; or ignoramus, when they are ignorant of any just cause to put the accused upon hi.% trial.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.

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References in periodicals archive

To conclude, the Romanian term 'rechizitoriu' is a 'partial equivalent' for the term 'indictment,' since one of its half meanings matches the meaning expressed by the term 'bill of indictment' in American English and the other half fully matches the British term 'indictment.' To put it in different words, the terms 'indictment' and 'rechizitoriu' may be considered 'identical equivalents' as long as we restrict our analysis to British English only.

Dealing with 'terminological incongruency' in legal language

According to the bill of indictment read out in court, they are accused of planning the murder of Hadjicostis during the course of two meetings -- one in Nicosia the other in the village of Pera Orinis -- that took place in December 2009 and January 2010.

Suspects plead not guilty in Hadjicostis case

The bill of indictment, seen by the Financial Times, alleges the crimes were committed between 2004 and 2007 by two former employees of the bank and five businessmen linked to trade finance company CCH and a real estate project in Dubai, the Plantation.

DIB aims to minimise fraud loss

The bill of indictment presented against the defendant states that he started to collaborate with the Israeli intelligence service when he was working in a gas station in Kfar Etzion settlement, south of Bethlehem, in 1999.

PCHR: abolish the Death Penalty

The bill of indictment includes his multiple failures in Iraq, most notoriously an insistence on an invasion force too small to seize control of the country, his gratuitous intimidation and humiliation of military professionals, his bureaucratic megalomania, and his skill at side-stepping responsibility for bad decisions.

Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy

And Cook County jurors were quick to exonerate, "no bill" (that is, not return a bill of indictment at the grand jury proceeding), and acquit killers, even those found glowering over their victims, gun--or hammer--in hand.

"It is his first offense. We might as well let him go": homicide and criminal justice in Chicago, 1875-1920

At the first session of what is expected to be a lengthy trial, the prosecutor starts reading from a 400-page bill of indictment that depicts the two institutes as engaging in western-sponsored psychological war operations, with the aim of overthrowing the Islamic state.

IRAN - Dec. 3 - Pollsters On Trial For Collaboration

The bill of indictment should be familiar by now: America is imperialistic, racist, sexist, homophobic, oppressive, materialistic, and vulgar -- a global scourge.

Forum on education & academics

High on the bill of indictment against Haider is his hearty commendation of Hitler's economic policies, particularly regarding employment.

Austria-Pariah Among Nations

Laying aside all questions of politics and of method, we may properly consider the proposals of the President as a bill of indictment and measure our performance against it.

The South and the South's Problem

Edgar Hoover, and as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, a co-prosecutor of the Vietnam War, appeared a perfect fit for the cumulative bill of indictment lodged by his son's new heroes.

American requiem