A Quick Primer on Federal Criminal Prosecutions and the Statutes Involved in the O’Keefe Arrest.
Posted by Shipwreckedcrew
A federal criminal prosecution initiated in a “reactive” fashion, where the federal authorities are called to the scene in the immediate aftermath of the episode thought to be a federal crime, usually begins with the filing of a criminal complaint. This is not a “charging instrument” in the sense that the case can go forward based on the complaint alone. The complaint does, however, give the federal court jurisdiction to authorize the issuance of an arrest warrant, to arraign the defendant following his arrest, and to determine whether the defendant shall be detained pending indictment or released on bond until a preliminary hearing is conducted or an indictment returned by a grand jury.
