A grand jury in Manhattan has indicted former US President Donald Trump, becoming the first leader in US history to be charged with a crime. The indictment remains confidential, so the specific charge or charges have not been made public.
The Washington Post has so far reported on the indictment and next steps in criminal proceedings, beginning with an indictment: when a grand jury indicts someone, it means they are charged with one or more crimes.
The indictment, according to New York Law School professor Anna G. Kominski, is a stylized way of saying the "indictment document," which is "a scrap of paper that includes the charges made."
Hearing
The grand jury procedure is confidential, and the indictment is usually not made public until it is presented in court, or in some cases until the accused appears in court for the first time.
She noted that the indictment against Trump includes a sum of money paid to actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election, to prevent her from discussing an affair she said she had with Trump years ago.
The next step, once the suspect has been indicted, is for police or other law enforcement officials to complete the detention procedures in secret, taking a photo of the person's face and taking fingerprints, she said.
The court's first action after arrest or surrender will be a hearing in the Manhattan courtroom. The judge at the trial will determine whether Trump will need to pay bail or abide by certain restrictions pending trial, or if he can be released without bail or restrictions, which is known as a personal pledge release.
Indictment
Many people wonder if Trump could go to jail, and the answer depends not only on what he's accused of, but also on whether anything, if any, was convicted of in the end.
In general, it is unusual for someone without a criminal record to be sentenced to long prison terms for a low-level, non-violent criminal offence. So even if Trump is convicted of a felony, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll spend time in jail.
In response to the question: Can Trump still run for president in 2024? Although no candidate from a major party has ever attempted this, Trump is allowed to run for president while indicted or even if convicted of a crime.
As for the reaction to the indictment, the newspaper pointed out that many Republican officials came to Trump's defense, denouncing what they described as the weaponization of the criminal justice system.