Criminal Defense FAQs

What's the difference between an indictment and a warrant? 

They are two separate things. 

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An indictment means that a case has been presented to a grand jury and they have voted that there is enough evidence against you to go forward to trial.

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A warrant means that somebody has usually filed a case; for example, your girlfriend signed a statement against you and said you assaulted her, and then the police are going out to be on the lookout for you.

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An indictment is more serious than a warrant. An indictment shows that there is a case against you and to have a trial is one of the next steps. With a warrant there may just be somebody who lied about you and the allegation wasn’t investigated well enough.