Indictment or Complaint? How Criminal Charges Actually Begin

The Complaint: How Nearly Every Minnesota Case Starts

A criminal complaint is a written document, signed by a prosecutor, that states the charges and lays out the facts the state says establish probable cause. A judge reviews it and signs off. That is the whole mechanism for the overwhelming majority of Minnesota prosecutions — misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, and nearly every felony.

The probable cause standard is low. It does not mean the state has proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or anything close to it. It means a judge found enough in the written allegations to believe a crime probably occurred and this person probably committed it. A complaint is an accusation that has cleared a modest threshold — nothing more.

That matters for how you read the news. When coverage says someone was "charged," it almost always means a prosecutor filed a complaint. The facts in it are the state's version, drafted by the state, untested by cross-examination.

The Grand Jury: A Different Body Entirely

A grand jury is a panel of citizens convened to decide whether there is enough evidence to formally accuse someone. It is not the jury that decides guilt at trial. Different people, different job, different standard, different room.

The proceeding looks nothing like a trial:

• It is secret. The public is excluded, and grand jurors are sworn to secrecy.
• Only the prosecutor presents. There is no defense lawyer in the room presenting a case.
• There is no judge presiding over the presentation the way one presides at trial.
• The standard is probable cause, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Rules of evidence are relaxed. Grand juries can consider material a trial jury never would.

If the grand jury votes to charge, it returns an indictment — sometimes called a "true bill." If it declines, that is a "no bill."

Because only one side presents, grand juries return indictments in the large majority of cases they hear. That is not a scandal; it reflects what the body is for. It is a screening function, not an adversarial contest. But it is why a defense lawyer treats an indictment as the beginning of the fight, not evidence that the fight is already lost.

The One Minnesota Charge That Requires an Indictment

Under the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure, an offense punishable by life imprisonment must be prosecuted by indictment. In practice, that means first-degree murder. A prosecutor cannot simply file a complaint charging murder in the first degree and take it to trial — the case has to go to a grand jury.

What this means in practice: when a homicide is charged by complaint with second-degree murder, that does not necessarily mean the state has settled on that charge forever. Prosecutors sometimes charge by complaint to hold someone in custody and secure the case, then present the matter to a grand jury later. If the grand jury indicts for first-degree murder, the case is re-charged at a higher level, and the sentencing exposure changes dramatically — from a term of years to life.

So an early charge is a snapshot, not a prediction. Watching whether a homicide case goes to a grand jury is one of the more meaningful signals of where a prosecution is heading.

A Current Example: The St. Paul Leasing Office Case

In July 2026, a man was charged in Ramsey County District Court with three counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of three apartment management employees in St. Paul. The charges were filed by complaint, and he made a first appearance shortly after.

Read against the rule above, the charging posture is what a lawyer notices. Second-degree murder can be charged by complaint. First-degree murder cannot. Whether this case stays where it is or is presented to a grand jury is an open question that only the Ramsey County Attorney's Office can answer, and nothing about the current charge tells you what will happen.

Everything alleged in a complaint is an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent, that presumption stays with him at every stage, and the state carries the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt on every element. Three people were killed, and the loss to their families and to that community is real. None of that changes how the process is supposed to work — and the process exists precisely because the stakes are this high.

How Charges Work in Federal Court

Federal practice is different, and the difference is constitutional. The Fifth Amendment requires that prosecution for an infamous crime — read today to mean a felony — proceed by grand jury indictment. Federal felonies are indicted, unless the defendant waives that right in writing, which happens most often as part of a negotiated resolution.

A federal case may begin with a complaint and an arrest, but the government then has a limited window to obtain an indictment. Federal grand juries sit for extended terms and can hear many matters, and they carry investigative power a state complaint process does not: subpoenas for documents and testimony. A federal grand jury subpoena is often the first sign a person has that they are under investigation at all.

What this means for you: if you receive a federal grand jury subpoena or a target letter, that is not a moment to handle alone or to wait out. Talk to a lawyer before responding, before producing anything, and before speaking with agents.

Why the Distinction Actually Matters

• Who decides. A complaint reflects one prosecutor's judgment reviewed by a judge. An indictment reflects a citizen panel's vote.
• What is at stake. In Minnesota, an indictment usually signals a life-exposure charge.
• Timing and strategy. Grand jury presentation takes time. That interval affects negotiations, investigation, and preparation.
• What it does not mean. Neither a complaint nor an indictment is evidence of guilt. Both are accusations that cleared a probable cause threshold in a one-sided proceeding.