arraign

arraign

v. to bring a criminal defendant before the court at which time the charges are presented to him/her, the opportunity to enter a plea (or ask for a continuance to plead) is given, a determination of whether the party has a lawyer is made (or whether a lawyer needs to be appointed), if necessary setting the amount of bail, and future appearances are scheduled. (See: appearance, arraignment)

arraign

verb accusare, accuse, accuse of wrong, blame, brand, brand with reproach, bring accusation, bring before a court, bring to trial, bring up for investigation, bring up on charges, call before a court, call to account, charge, cite, complain against, criminate, denounce, denunciate, formally accuse, formally charge, formally criminate, formally incriminate, implicate, incriminate, postulare, prefer charges, prosecute

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See also: accuse, blame, charge, complain, denounce, prosecute

arraign

in English and American legal process, to call the accused to the bar of the court to answer an indictment. The hearing is called an arraignment.