POST-INDICTMENT
1. Indictment
An indictment is a written statement of the essential facts constituting the crime charged. The Court Rules require that the indictment be signed by the prosecuting attorney and endorsed by the foreperson of the grand jury as a True Bill. The indictment must also state the official statutory citation for the crime charged. See R. 3:7-3. Once an indictment has been returned, it
is filed with the court, either by returning it to the assignment judge, or, with his approval, any other Superior Court judge. R. 3:6-8(a). Once returned, the assignment judge can order that the indictment be kept secret, i.e. sealed, until the defendant is arrested or the indictment is ordered unsealed by the court. When an indictment is sealed it is usually at the request of the prosecutor who may not want an on-going investigation to be compromised by public knowledge of the indictment or if there is concern that the defendant who may not have been arrested on the underlying charges may flee the jurisdiction of the court before being arrested
