A question about the Grand Jury

[TallahasseeGrannie]

and the Rove situation. I keep hearing that Fitz holds the final cards here about indicting Rove, et al. Just exactly what does the Grand Jury decide? Is their role just to get information? They must deliberate on something?

[SimpleMan]

1. They make the decision on whether or not to indict. nt

-

[writes2000]

2. I Think Fitz Proposes Potential Indictments. The Jury Decides...

whether there is enough cause to issue actual indictments.

Is that right?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. It's like any jury, really

except that the Grand Jury proceedings are conducted in secret, and a few other things - but the final verdict, as in handing down indictments or deciding that the evidence and testimony presented don't reach the required standard, is in the hands of the Grand Jury.

[SillyGoose]

4. So they could deliberate for a while in reaching their decision?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

6. Sure

But they're not going to go beyond their expiration date, which is, I believe, October 28. They've been empaneled for a long, long time, and they're probably just itching to get back to their lives. Can't blame them, that's for sure.

[SillyGoose]

8. Thanks, OLL. I had been wondering about this. n/t

[Neil Lisst]

5. As a practical matter, the prosecutor decides ...

The grand jury votes, but it seldoms votes on its own. They consider the charges that the prosecutor puts before them. They either return a "true bill" or a "no bill." The former is an indictment, and the latter is refusal to indict.

The grand jury system was designed originally to keep prosecutors from simply charging anyone they wish, but that has long ago fallen by the wayside. Now, it's more of a system to allow the prosecutor to lend credibility to his actions.

Frankly, I don't think much of the grand jury system, but it is better than simply allowing prosecutors to run loose.


http://www.webcomicsnation.com/neillisst/

[baby_bear]

7. Here is a good source of information

http://www.udayton.edu/~grandjur/faq/faq3.htm
<snip>
In the federal system and in all but two of the states, grand juries are used to bring charges against persons who are believed to have committed crimes. In the federal system and in some states, they HAVE to be used to bring charges for felonies, which are the more serious crimes that normally carry a prison term for those who are convicted.
...
If a prosecutor wants a grand jury to charge someone, the prosecutor reserves time with the grand jury and then presents evidence to them. In presenting the evidence, the prosecutor is trying to persuade the grand jurors that the people he or she wants to charge have committed certain crimes. The evidence can be almost anything--testimony from witnesses (including police officers or federal agents), documents, video recordings, tape recordings, the results of scientific tests (like DNA tests), photographs, etc.
...
After they hear all the prosecutor's evidence, the jurors vote on a set of proposed charges--known as an "indictment"--which the prosecutor has drafted and gives to the grand jurors. If the grand jurors decide the evidence creates probable cause to believe the persons named in an indictment committed the crimes it charges them with, they vote to "return" the indictment, i.e., to charge the person with those crimes. Voting to return charges is usually known as "returning a true bill." If a grand jury votes to return a true bill, the indictment is valid and it initiates a criminal case against the people named as defendants in the indictment. A majority of the grand jurors must vote for an indictment in order to return a true bill. If a majority of the grand jurors don't think the prosecutor's evidence creates probable cause, they will vote not to return the indictment. When a majority of grand jurors vote not to return an indictment, this is known alternatively as "returning a bill of ignoramus" or "returning a no bill." If the grand jurors vote not to return an indictment, the indictment is not valid and no criminal case results.
</snip>

Lots of other information there.
b_b