Former President Donald Trump was indicted for an unprecedented third time on August 1, adding another set of serious federal charges to the mounting legal issues he faces.

  • superkret@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    I’m not American, and I don’t know exactly what the legal differences are between “indicted”, “charged” and “accused”.
    When is he going to be put in handcuffs and detained in a jail cell like a normal person would be if they were suspected of committing a crime (like stealing a handbag for example) but not convicted yet?

    • smokestack@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      12 jurors will decide on his guilt (the standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal case) after reviewing evidence during his trial which will probably happen next year. If found guilty, the judge will choose a sentence that’s within guidelines outlined in law. Then he’ll be pardoned by the next Republican president.

      • LastSprinkles@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Unless he’s the next Republican president and pardons himself, I wouldn’t be so sure that he’ll be pardoned.

        • TechnoBabble@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Trump has such a large fanatical following that it’s almost certain the next Republican president will use a Trump pardon as a poker chip for gaining party support on whatever plan he needs pushed.

          So personally I think it’s almost certain Trump will be pardoned.

          But it’s possible he could die in prison before that happens.

      • player2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        The jury selection process will need to be particularly thorough for this trial to avoid a bias one way or another. It would be interesting to hear what questions they ask of potential jurors.

      • randon31415@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The real weirdness happens if he is found guilty under state charges (in New York) and wins the presidency. The federal president can’t pardon state charges - he would take the oath in prison!

    • betheydocrime@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The difference between “charged” and “indicted” is who finds probable cause that you committed a crime. If it was a prosecutor, you are charged. If it’s a jury, you’re indicted.

      Accused, legally speaking, is a noun meaning a person who has been arrested for or charged with a crime

    • Plaid_Kaleidoscooe@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Money seems to be the difference. I’ve been through the legal system and let me tell you that I wouldn’t be out campaigning if I had three indictments. I’d be sitting in a cell waiting for trial or a plea deal. The fact that he has been spared the same humiliation that anyone else would have been is a crime in and of itself.

    • mycroft@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m not American, and I don’t know exactly what the legal differences are between “indicted”, “charged” and “accused”. When is he going to be put in handcuffs and detained in a jail cell like a normal person would be if they were suspected of committing a crime (like stealing a handbag for example) but not convicted yet?

      He is getting slightly better than normal rich person with expensive lawyer treatment.

      America, as a pure service economy has prices for bribery and extortion as well as minimum service levels for the legal system. If you pay for economy (with your life) you get a defense attorney appointed by the state who sits across from the judge and DA you’re going to have to deal with, and has lunch with them, or makes deals in the bathroom… They’ll fight to make sure their life doesn’t get disrupted a whole lot and they can keep defending the endless stream of defendants.

      The middle tier is the “hire a reptable firm, and get a junior associate” level of service, that’s where you get someone who’s overworked, and desperately trying to keep all their partner’s cases going, and they can spend 1/10th of their time on your case, they don’t have any worries about not having a job though so they can dedicate the time in court to defending you.

      The top tier is the “hire a reputable firm, and you get a named partner” they care about their reputation, and make sure they only take cases that will make them look good. And they look good by doing the best damn job they can in front of the cameras, in their filings, and in front of their client. You get the white glove treatment, and 90% of the time of the junior associates helping the partner.

      It’s no wonder why you typically only get the “Go home and sleep it off” result from an indictment from the highest tier of service.