What happens at the Grand Jury?
The Grand Jury is a group of citizens empaneled by the District Attorney’s Office to determine if probable cause exists to issue an indictment. Only felony matters are presented to the Grand Jury. There is no judge presiding over the proceedings. Neither the defendant nor his counsel is present, and only the State’ s side is presented. There is no cross-examination and there are no defense witnesses. Grand Jury members vote whether to No Bill or True Bill a case. If the matter is True Billed, an indictment is issued and the case is assigned to a Circuit Court judge. What happens in the Circuit Court? This is the trial level of the criminal justice system. Once an indictment is returned from the Grand Jury and the matter is assigned to a Circuit Court judge, the case will be set for a Pre-trial Conference. At that time, the district attorney and the defendant’s counsel will attempt to reach a settlement. If a plea agreement is not reached, the case will be set for Trial. The purpose of
