In the criminal justice system, there is a set way in which crime and punishment is handled. Each jurisdiction has their own set of courts and rules according to the federal set of regulations that determines the rendering of criminal and civil cases. Criminal cases, in particular, are typically much more complicated than civil suits, and therefore, require more legal steps, such as when judges or grand juries determine indictments prior to trial. In the following discussion of the criminal jury, we will examine what a grand jury is, how a grand jury fits in with successive steps of the legal system, the jury process, and the overall significance of the grand jury in the criminal justice system-according to criminal defendants and government prosecution.
In any criminal case, there is a defendant and a plaintiff, with the plaintiff most often being a government prosecutor-and a judge and/or jury. Whereas in a civil suit, the plaintiff would be the direct victim of some sort of civil dispute; in a criminal case, the victim is most often represented by the government, as a crime of any nature is determined an affront to all members of the community, the government is the representative party of a jurisdiction’s community. In keeping with this symbolic means of ordering justice in this country, is the existence of what is called a grand jury.
A grand jury-loosely defined-is a panel comprised of 12-24 members of a community that determines, after review of the prosecutor’s facts and presentation, if there is enough proof-or probable cause-that the defendant in question, could have committed the crime in question. It is not the job of the grand jury to consider guilt or innocence-as these aspects are determined later by a party other than the grand jury-but only to determine if there is enough evidence to be considered in a formal court trial. A grand jury is in place to formally charge a defendant or defendants with a crime or dismiss these charges, prior to a trial-at the arraignment hearing. Grand jury systems take the place of judges in states that require the use of grand juries, or in which federal crimes that are considered “capital or infamous” (under the Fifth Amendment) have occurred (the Fifth Amendment stipulates that all federal cases that include serious nature crimes necessitate the use of grand juries).
Aside from determining probable cause in the U.S. legal system of crime and punishment, grand jury panels also offer two significant services to the overall criminal justice system: a jury offers a means of checks and balances as well as unburdening the court system of cases that do not warrant court trial time. As to the first service of the grand jury, the original purpose of the grand jury was to make sure that the officials in place-judges-were effecting overall justice to criminals in their courts, by having a random group of citizens perform their duties on a regular basis-the grand jury. This way, the ideal purpose to root out corruption and ensure that all defendants are being served in a just manner, as regards the crimes they are being charged with, is served. The second purpose that the installation of a grand jury serves is to unencumber an already over-laden court system by removing some criminal cases from going to trial-when not enough material is present-at the arraignment stage prior to setting of a possible trial date. This leaves only the most significant and necessary of criminal cases to be reviewed formally at the trial level-which can often be an expensive, lengthy, and drawn-out process.
While all federal crimes of the previously referred to serious nature must be reviewed by a grand jury prior to going to trial, some states all process all or some felonies with the help of regular grand jury panels at the county and state levels. The process for choosing and implementing the aid of the grand jury members is most often identical to federal grand jury standards, requiring that all members of the grand jury panel be drawn in a completely random manner, and that 12 members “must agree to issue an indictment”. The length of grand jury service-depending on the jurisdiction served and the seriousness of the offense-can range from 3-18 months, and sometimes longer.
In a formal arraignment hearing, the grand jury typically has the right to not only listen to and review the prosecution’s formal bill of grand jury indictment; but also to subpoena and question witnesses to the end result of their legal purpose as a grand jury. If-at the end of the grand jury panel’s term-the grand jurymembers decide that the defendant should be charged for the crime in question, the grand jury will offer what is called a grand jury“true bill”, calling for an indictment of the defendant(s). If, conversely, the grand jury believes there is not enough evidence for an indictment, then they will put forth what is called a grand jury“no bill” to the court, meaning no grand jury indictment should follow.
Sources:
http://www.answers.com/topic/grand-jury
http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/grand-jury/