in·dict
1. To accuse of wrongdoing; charge: a book that indicts modern values.
2. Law. To make a formal accusation or indictment against (a party) by the findings of a jury, especially a grand jury.
I looked this one up because I wasn’t sure whether it referred to something before or after proof. That is, I didn’t know whether it was closer in meaning to charge or to convict. Apparently it’s closer to charge, although the 2nd definition is a little vague in determining the difference.
Why don’t they just say charge then? It seems to me that the term indict is more commonly used when the crime is money related, for example when a business ‘cooks the books’ or when money is handed under the table (to Saddam Hussein during the oil for food thing, for example). I’ve never heard the term used in Australian cases, is it an American law thing?
oh yea, here, there indicting people all over the place. Someone can be arrested, but if he is not indicted, then he has to be released from jail.
It is funny how some words sound like they ought to mean something else.
To the best of my knowledge, an indictment is a formal charge against someone backed by at least some credible evidence. In the US system, I believe you have to go to a jury or grand jury with your accusation and some evidence to back it up, and they decide if there’s enough evidence to support the charge and therefore make the person actually stand trial. Therefore you can technically “charge” anyone you want with a crime, but it is only when that charge is supported by evidence that the person can be indicted.
The legal usage is different to the colloquial phrase “that event was a glaring indictment on the Australian culture” (it is always a glaring indictment) whereby the evidence appears to be the indictment. Current examples include David Hick’s imprisonment being an indictment against our Government; the Cronulla riots being an indictment against white Australia; and the number of children growing up in long day care being an indictment on our society’s materialism and pursuit of wealth at all costs.
That’s how I use the word, anyway. If I’m wrong, indict me.
.e