what exactly is a grand jury?

Question

When is one used and why?? Why do they decide if someone should be prosucuted why doesnt the district attorney make the decision and are the grand jury .. the same people as they would choose out of a regular jury pool?

Answer 1

Grand Juries date back to England and were originally used to make charging decisions before there was such a thing as district attorneys.

Under the U.S. Constitution for federal offenses and some state constitutions, a defendant has a right to be charged only by the grand jury (though this right can be waived). In states that do not require a grand jury, a defendant can be charged by the district attorney but the defendant charged with a felony has a right to a "preliminary hearing" (essentially a mini-trial) before a magistrate before he can be brought to trial. Because a preliminary hearing can be rather burdensome, some prosecutors (especially for cases with vulnerable witnesses and victims) prefer presenting a case to a grand jury. Even if a case is presented to the grand jury, the district attorney still has the option of declining to prosecute or dismissing the charges.

The grand jury is drawn from the same "master list" of potential juries as is the "petit" or trial jury.

Answer 2

A trial jury is to a court what a grand jury essentially is to a prosecutor. The grand jury makes findings on whether to indict or not indict in the same way a prosecutor decides whether or not to file a criminal information and commence a preliminary hearing. The grand jury is assigned in the Utah Constitution, Article 1 Section 13 as an equal alternative form of commencing prosecution, equal in jurisdiction and independent authority, but not by burden of proof. The burden of proof for the grand jury is greater, so it's harder for them to indict. These two whole forms of due process are designed to co-exist so that whenever equity favors the role of one over the other, the other takes jurisdiction. The grand jury was not invented by our Constitution, but was adopted from common law. Common law requires (regardess of the U.S. fifth amendment) that grand juries have jurisdiction over infamous crimes, including public corruption.

Answer 3

It should also be noted that the use of grand jury is usually reserved for more severe crimes. Also the grand jury doesn't charge anyone, it bolsters the original criminal complaint. It shows that people independent of the prosecutor's office feel the case has merit. The value of a grand jury indictment is debatable because the people in it only hear one side, unless the defendant chooses to testify.