The grand jury plays an important role in the criminal process, but not one that involves a finding of guilt or punishment of a party. Instead, a prosecutor will work with a grand jury to decide whether to bring criminal charges or an indictment against a potential defendant -- usually reserved for serious felonies. Grand jury members may be called for jury duty for months at a time, but need only appear in court for a few days out of every month. Regular court trial juries are usually 6 or 12 people, but in the federal system, a grand jury can be 16 to 23 people. The grand jury is one of the first procedures in a criminal trial, if used at all. See FindLaws Criminal Procedure section for more articles, including Criminal Procedure FAQ and How are Criminal Charges Brought Against Someone? How Does a Grand Jury Differ from a Preliminary Hearing?
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 03:24:23 +0000
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