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submitted 1 year ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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.

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[-] Reddevilegg@sh.itjust.works 33 points 1 year ago

What does it mean to be indicted?

[-] Laticauda@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 year ago

It means he's being charged with the crime by a grand jury, as opposed to a prosecutor. So he'll be going on trial to see if he gets convicted.

[-] Wrench@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A little easier to understand the significance:

A grand jury has ruled that the evidence presented is sufficient enough to warrant a trial to determine if a crime has been committed.

Typically grand juries are either random citizens (selected via jury duty), or volunteers within the community, depending on the city rules. They are not elected positions, nor are any legal qualifications required. It's simply high level evidence, and descriptions of laws that may have been violated.

It's not an indication of guilt, just that there's enough of a question that is worth holding a trial to determine guilt.

Edit - at least, that's what a grand jury usually is. I wouldn't be surprised if federal charges on a former president requires more qualified grand jurors than the baker down the street, or retired carpenter with time to kill that comprises your typical grand jury

[-] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Also there may be significant political bias (right?) if some of them are his hi-tech supporters

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

It means he's going to be tried for his crimes.

[-] Raddnaar@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

It means he will be tried to see if he committed any crimes.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

We aren't the media here. We don't have to play the "innocent until proven guilty or else he'll sue us" game. The man clearly committed the crimes. He did it on national television. You can watch him tell people to "fight like hell" and tell them to march to the Capitol. It is an indisputable fact that he then did nothing to stop the insurrection until hours later.

Why the hell do you need a judge to rule to determine that he's a criminal? The judge is there to tell us what, if any, punishment he'll get.

This is just like people claiming he isn't a rapist because the ruling in the Carroll case didn't explicitly call it rape, when any reasonable person with a basic understanding of what rape is would understand that it's rape even if that doesn't fit the strict legal definition.

Trump is a criminal. He hoarded documents. He showed classified information to people who were not qualified to see it. He raped at least one woman. He fomented an insurrection. He tried to rig an election.

And you want a guilty verdict before admitting all of that? SMH.

[-] HurlingDurling@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

I think he is guilty as sin as well, however we still have to prove it on a court of law and hope the judge is not lenient and throws the book at him.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

In this case, it's a D.C. court with a judge appointed by Obama, so I don't think lenience is going to happen.

[-] Wak90@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I mean we don't actually have to do that

[-] AnxiousOtter@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

We definitely do. We can't eschew due process. It's integral to our society.

Everyone, everyone deserves the opportunity to defend themselves.

That being said, he's guilty as shit and I hope they throw the book at him. He wanted to steal the election and then invoke the military under the insurrection act to start putting down the resulting riots with gunfire. The man was going to kill Americans to keep his grip on power. It's all outlined in the indictment documents.

[-] Stanwich@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Once again, "everyone" just means those who can afford it. Don't think for a second is fairness for all. You would not be judged the same.

this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2023
1794 points (97.3% liked)

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