Misdemeanors are more serious than petty offences and carry larger fines and a possible jail sentence. A felony is more serious than a misdemeanor and may result in imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. Substantive law determines the outcome of a case based on the facts. Procedural law determines the rules to be used to resolve the case. Different categories of crimes result in different punishment and not surprisingly have different procedural rules.
More serious crimes have more complicated rules.
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