What is a Grand Jury?
A grand jury deliberates whether or not a case, usually involving a crime above the misdemeanor level, has enough merit to warrant a trial. The grand jury is made up of ordinary citizens, and is not uniformly employed in all states. However, the US government requires all cases where federal laws have been broken to first be argued before a grand jury in order to determine viability of the case. When the grand jury, usually made up of between 16-20 people, finds that evidence is sufficient for a case to proceed, it issues indictments. An indictment is essentially a formal statement that someone has been accused of a crime and must stand trail. The grand jury is supposed to be a check to the prosecutorial system, so that prosecutors cannot accuse people of crimes for which little evidence exists. Actually, most evidence suggests that grand jury proceedings tend to almost always follow the recommendations of the prosecutors. Many feel the grand jury is not adequate for providing balance
A Grand Jury is a group of citizens that are selected from a jury pool and sworn by the court. Grand Juries listen to the evidence presented by the State’s Attorney and then determine if that person should be charged or prosecuted for a criminal act if there is probable cause to believe that person has committed the offense. Different from a Petit Jury, Grand Juries do not determine guilt or innocence.
A grand jury is a group of people that are selected and sworn in by a court, just like jurors that are chosen to serve on a trial jury (such as the jury in the O.J. Simpson criminal case or in the Louise Woodward (“au pair”) murder case). In fact, the grand jurors are usually chosen from the same pool of people that provide trial jurors: A judge selects and swears in a grand jury, just like judges select and swear in trial juries. But grand juries differ from trial juries in several ways. Lady Justice.jpg (28459 bytes) For one thing, grand juries may sit for longer. In the federal system, a grand jury can sit for up to 36 months, although it doesn’t have to sit that long. The court that swears in a new grand jury can extend its term in 6-month increments, for a total of 36 months, but a federal grand jury may only sit for 18 months or so. State grand juries sit for varying terms: Depending on the state, a particular grand jury may sit for a month, six months, or even a year. Unlike tri
Here is the entire 5th Amendment, for your reference: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. A Grand Jury is a body of the people whose purpose is to: 1) make accusations of wrongdoing (especially on the part of government officials) 2) verify that accusations of wrongdoing made are just and proper. If the police arrest a woman based on the complaint that “she turned me into a newt!”, and if this is considered a serious crime (like if the accuse
In 1998, Bruce Gottlieb explained the role and composition of grand juries, in connection with the end of Kenneth Starr’s Whitewater investigations. “Grand juries make the initial decision to indict—formally accuse—a criminal defendant and require him or her to stand trial,” he wrote. “Grand jury indictments are required for all federal felonies. About half the states have some sort of grand jury hurdle, too. Grand jurors are ordinary citizens who listen to the prosecutor questioning witnesses. Unlike a trial, a Grand Jury proceeding is private, and there is no cross examination or presentation of the defense case. In fact, witnesses may not even have a lawyer present during questioning. And jurors themselves may ask questions.
