| Preliminary Criminal Proceedings |
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| After a defendant has been arrested and may have been released, he or she is required to appear for an arraignment. An arraignment is a court appearance in which defendant is brought before a judge or magistrate and apprised of the charges lodged against him or her. Ordinarily with respect to a misdemeanor offense, the defendant will only be arraigned once. However, with a felony offense, the defendant may be arraigned more than once if the offense is changed from the offense listed in the initial accusatory instrument.More... |
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| ATTEMPT |
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| A person commits an attempt if he or she, with the specific intent to commit an underlying offense, commits an act that amounts to more than mere preparation and fails to commit the underlying offense. In order to constitute an attempt, the person must have the specific intent to commit the offense. More... |
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| Overview of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 RICO |
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| RICO was enacted in response to the threat to the American economy from the unfettered growth of organized crime. RICO was intended to assist in remedying the inhabitation of the development of admissible evidence necessary to bring criminal charges against individuals involved in organized crime. The United States Congress enacted RICO in the hope that it would in part permit prosecutors to revitalize corrupted interstate enterprises into legal businesses. More... |
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| Customs Fraud and Evasion Practices |
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| Double invoicing is a procedure in which the importer and foreign exporter agree to divide the per-unit cost between two invoices. Only one invoice is presented at entry. The second invoice for the balance is forwarded to the importer, either before or after entry, and is paid separately. The customs officials are able to detect the improper value of goods listed on an invoice if they are well seasoned in their work. The double invoicing scheme will work if all of the documents are altered properly.More... |
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| Testimonial Privileges |
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| When a witness is called to testify in a criminal trial they may be able to assert a testimonial privilege that may prevent them from testifying about a certain fact or event. The law regarding testimonial privileges varies between federal and state court.
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