What Is a Grand Jury and How Does It Work?
On Friday, a federal grand jury in Washington approved the first allegations in an investigation led by Robert Mueller of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, CNN reported .
The grand jury is slightly different from the average court jury. While all of us, regardless of our political views, have been a little more involved in politics and litigation in the past year, chances are you haven’t faced a “grand jury” before. Here’s what you need to know:
What makes a grand jury different from a regular jury?
A grand jury is very similar to your traditional judicial jury. It usually consists of a group of 12 to 23 people (more than the 6 to 12 used in a typical jury).
While a regular jury will hear court cases and decide whether a person is guilty or innocent, a grand jury will instead decide if there are enough plausible reasons in the case to consider criminal charges. A grand jury is required for a felony charge, but can be used for other types of cases as well.
Instead of sitting in a courtroom before a judge, the jury is sitting in what looks more like a lecture hall. The judge is usually not present. Instead, they hear evidence from the prosecutor’s office and then decide whether there is enough evidence to bring charges based on what they hear. The jury is also often allowed to write down questions for the defendant.
There is no cross-examination by the defense and the witnesses do not have a lawyer.
How are people selected for a grand jury?
The grand jury is selected in the same way as the traditional jury. So when you get a jury notice in your inbox, you might be called to a traditional judicial jury or grand jury, they use the same system.
The grand jury hears many cases, so their term is much longer than that of the people chosen as jurors. People selected to serve on the DC federal grand jury are likely to serve 18 months, but they are expected to actually “serve” on the jury only eight days a month.
Even if the prosecutor in the case changes (for example, if Mueller is fired), the grand jury will still remain in place.
What is required for a grand jury indictment?
A little. All a grand jury has to do is think they’ve seen enough evidence to back up a criminal case. An indictment does not require a unanimous decision by all the jury, only a quorum is needed. With 12 jurors on a grand jury, only 9 will need to vote to be indicted for an indictment to be issued. In a group of 16 people, only 12 people are needed.
After indictment, criminal proceedings can be initiated.