FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAWYERS

New Jersey What Happens In a Grand Jury? Lawyers

If you have been charged with a crime, the prosecutor may first present your case to a grand jury to gauge the strength of the state’s evidence in the matter. In some instances, a grand jury hearing will be used as a way to convince witnesses to provide oral testimony or documents that are relevant in a given matter. Let’s take a look at the grand jury process, how it differs from a traditional trial and the impact its decision could have on your case.

What Is a Grand Jury?

A grand jury is a group of up to 23 people who hear evidence in a case and decide whether to issue an indictment. An indictment means that there is reason to believe that the state could earn a conviction in your case. However, it does not decide whether you are guilty or innocent of a given crime. Your guilt or innocence can only be determined by a traditional jury during a formal trial. Accepting a plea deal is also considered to be an admission of guilt.

Your Attorney Isn’t Present During a Grand Jury Hearing

It is important to understand that your attorney is not inside of the courtroom during a grand jury hearing. This provides an important advantage for the prosecutor as there is no one to put evidence into context or otherwise push back against the narrative presented during this proceeding.

However, your attorney may have the opportunity to challenge a prosecutor’s conduct or ask for evidence to be suppressed during a pretrial hearing. In some instances, having evidence suppressed during a hearing or during trial can be enough to convince a prosecutor to drop the matter entirely.

Grand Juries Typically Have Subpoena Power

Grand juries are typically allowed to subpoena documents, witness testimony or any other information that they might find relevant in a given case. This is done by asking the judge overseeing the case to issue an order requiring an individual to testify or to produce a given document.

Generally speaking, the judge will honor any request to obtain information that a grand jury needs to determine if an indictment is warranted. If the subject of the subpoena fails to comply with the order to testify or take other actions, he or she could be held in contempt of court. That might result in jail time, a fine or other penalties as allowed by law.

What Is the Threshold to Obtain an Indictment?

In a traditional trial, a jury must unanimously decide that a person is guilty of a given charge. However, this is not true when it comes time to decide whether a person should be indicted or not. Typically, a grand jury only needs a supermajority to send a case to trial.

What Happens if a Grand Jury Chooses Not to Indict?

In many cases, a failure to obtain an indictment means that some or all charges against a defendant are dropped. Of course, the prosecutor in your case could choose to present new evidence in front of a new grand jury. Whether or not this happens will largely depend on the type of crime that you committed and if the case has received a lot of media attention.

Alternatively, the prosecutor may simply decide to take the matter to trial anyway regardless of how strong the evidence is. Often, it is easier to obtain a plea deal in a case when there is a tacit acknowledgment that the case against you is relatively weak.

The Importance of Hiring an Attorney to Help With Your Case

It is generally a good idea to hire an attorney the moment that you are charged with a crime or believe that you will be. Although legal counsel can do little to influence the grand jury process, he or she can start preparing for subsequent portions of the legal process. This may involve gathering witness statements, physical evidence or other information that might help to cast doubt upon the case against you.

Your legal counsel might also advise you to stay off of social media or to refrain from talking to anyone in person about your case. Doing so may help to avoid saying anything that might be used against you at trial.