United States criminal procedure

United States criminal procedure derives from several sources of law: the baseline protections of the United States Constitution, federal and state statutes; federal and state rules of criminal procedure (such as the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure); and state and federal case law. Criminal procedures are distinct from civil procedures in the US.

The United States Constitution, including the United States Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments, contains the following provisions regarding criminal procedure. Due to the incorporation of the Bill of Rights, all of these provisions apply equally to criminal proceedings in state courts, with the exception of the Grand Jury Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Vicinage Clause of the Sixth Amendment, and (maybe) the Excessive Bail Clause of the Eighth Amendment.

Federal statutes and rules apply to criminal proceedings in federal courts, such as:

Each state has its own statutes and rules of criminal proceeding applying to proceedings in its courts.

In a criminal case, the government generally brings charges in one of two ways: either by accusing a suspect directly in a "bill of information" or other similar document, or by bringing evidence before a grand jury to allow that body to determine whether the case should proceed. If the grand jury determines that there is enough evidence to justify the bringing of charges, then the defendant is indicted. In the federal system, a case must always be brought before a grand jury for indictment if it is punishable by death or more than one year in prison; some states, however, do not require indictment.

Once charges have been brought, the case is then brought before a petit jury, (or what is commonly recognized as the normal courtroom jury of six to twelve members), or is tried by a judge alone, if the defense requests it. Any petit jury is selected from a pool by the prosecution and defense.

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