Section 100.05. Commencement of action; in general  


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  • A  criminal  action  is  commenced  by  the  filing  of  an accusatory
      instrument with a criminal court, and if more than one  such  instrument
      is  filed  in  the  course  of  the  same  criminal  action, such action
      commences when the first of such instruments is filed.  The only way  in
      which  a  criminal action can be commenced in a superior court is by the
      filing therewith by a grand jury of an indictment  against  a  defendant
      who has never been held by a local criminal court for the action of such
      grand  jury  with  respect  to  any charge contained in such indictment.
      Otherwise, a criminal action can be commenced only in a  local  criminal
      court,  by  the  filing  therewith  of a local criminal court accusatory
      instrument, namely:
        1.  An information; or
        2.  A simplified information; or
        3.  A prosecutor's information; or
        4.  A misdemeanor complaint; or
        5.  A felony complaint.