court

[ESU]

what is the differnce btwn a jury and a grand jury.Also what does it maen when some one is arraigned and indicted.

[spyman]

Are you dong a project for school?

[zander_zye]

A grand jury is empowered by either the county, state, or federal goverment. Their job is to listen to evidence and decide whether an indictment will be filed. Citizens serving usually do so for a period of one year.

The good thing about the grand jury is that they can get through all of the legal mumbo jumbo quickly and indict if necessary (and indictment is not a conviction, nor is it even a trial). The bad thing is that they can be used for political motive (such as what happened to the Chief and Assistant Cheif in San Francisco - both indictments were dropped)

[Swat1]

I am going to use the federal model to keep it simplified as every State and County can be different. When I say different I am referring to the numbers of Grand Jury (GJ) members, whether they record testimony or not, etc.

The GJ is made up of at least 16 but not more than 23 jury members. They are often called the "panel." The GJ is an investigative body that decides, after hearing testimony from Law Enforcement, witnesses, experts, etc., and reviewing evidence, whether a person should be CHARGED with a crime. Charged is capitalized because it is one of the major differences between the GJ and a Trial Jury (TJ).

GJ's are generally one sided because only the Prosecutor puts on evidence/witnesses. The defense is not present nor allowed to be involved in the GJ process. Once the Prosecution has put on it's evidence and/or witnesses the GJ deliberates. If a majority of the GJ believes that there is enough evidence to CHARGE the individual with a crime (set out by the Prosecutor) then they return a True Bill Indictment. The Indictment is a charging document issued by the Grand Jury and filed with the Court. Often, arrest warrants for the individual are obtained from the Court through the Indictment.

If a majority of the GJ does not feel there is enough evidence to charge the person with a crime they return a No Bill.

A GJ may sit for anywhere from 18 to 36 months. However, they do not convene every day. Depending on the District, there may be several GJ's serving at one time.

A TJ hears civil and criminal cases. In a criminal case the TJ decides, after hearing evidence and/or witnesses put on by both the Prosecutor and the Defense, whether or not a person is GUILTY of a crime Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. If the TJ finds that a person is Guilty then that person is considered convicted of a crime and the Judge sentences them.

In a civil case, the jury hears evidence/wintesses put on by both the Plaintiff and the Defendant and then decides who is right/wrong/responsible/liable etc., Civil TJ's are also often responsible for deciding how much is paid out.

As a matter of fact I have GJ coming up soon (the exact date/time/makeup of GJ is not public information).

Hope this helps.

Swat1*

[KrisSAU]

We have such brilliant men here

[zander_zye]

Clearer answer than mine Swat -- thanks

[tommygenewoolworth]

It is good to See FLETC training in action. Nice work

tomahawk134