arraigner

ar·raign   (ə-rān')    tr.v.   ar·raigned, ar·raign·ing, ar·raigns Law To call (an accused person) before a court to answer the charge made against him or her by indictment, information, or complaint. To call to account; accuse: "Johnson arraigned the modern politics of this country as entirely devoid of all principle" (James Boswell). [Middle English arreinen, from Old French araisnier, from Vulgar Latin *adratiōnāre, to call to account : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin ratiō, ratiōn-, account; see reason.] ar·raign'er n., ar·raign'ment n.

arraign 

Main Entry: ar·raign
Pronunciation: &-'rAn
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Anglo-French arrainer, from Old French araisnier to address, call to account, from a-, prefix stressing goal of an action + raisnier to speak
: to bring (a defendant) before a judge or magistrate to hear the charges and to plead usually either guilty or not guilty —compare INDICT
NOTE: For a person to be formally arraigned, he or she must be called by name before a judge or magistrate. The judge or magistrate makes sure that the defendant is the person named in the complaint, indictment, or information, which is then read to formally notify the defendant of the charges. The defendant may then enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or another plea allowed by law such as nolo contendere. In some cases, as when the defendant is not yet represented by a lawyer, the judge or magistrate may enter a plea of not guilty on the defendant's behalf. —ar·raign·ment noun