Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: who decides when you are charged

You are charged when the prosecutor files an indictment (usually called an information in California and sometimes called a complaint) with the court to begin a case against you. This often happens well before the first court date, and charges are sometimes dropped before the defendant even knows they have been filed, let alone made his first court appearance. A five-day detention strongly suggests that you were charged at least in that case but I can't be sure.

The information you have provided is insufficient and I would need to know a lot more before I could say whether you were charged or not.

Re: who decides when you are charged

You're asking an unusual question, that seems to indicate you think they won't find out if you don't tell. All the details of what happened to you are readily available to the investigating agency. They are asking to see how honest you are. You lie on this and you will never get a clearance, and you would be committing perjury by lying.

Arrests are not convictions, but charges may have been brought and dropped.

Re: who decides when you are charged

You were not charged, so you can truthfully answer No on your SF86. But when the investigator visits you, be sure and explain this to him.