The Grand Jury

Grand juries are skewed against defendants. Often, the jurors merely rubber stamp a prosecutor’s decision to file charges. Moreover, defense attorneys never find out what the exact vote count is; instead, they are merely told that their defendant is either charged or not.

YourIrvinecriminal attorney has her work cut out for you as you face a grand jury. There are, in fact, two different types of grand juries: the charging grand jury and the investigating grand jury. Whether you will face one or the other, or a grand jury at all, depends on your case and the jurisdiction where your case is heard.

Charging grand juries occur when a defendant has been arrested on a complaint or some other charging document. This grand jury is used when you must be brought to court quickly or released. A charging grand jury does virtually no investigating. Instead, it hears brief testimony from the arresting officer and then makes a decision to charge you.

An investigating grand jury is used for more difficult or complex cases. It begins with serving of subpoenas for documents. Then witnesses will be called, usually starting with minor ones who are more willing to cooperate. Following this, the grand jury calls immunized witnesses. It then returns to calling witnesses who were less cooperative. The process culminates in testimony by an agent who summarizes the investigation. The prosecutor then reviews elements of the case, and the grand jury votes.

YourIrvinecriminal attorney will need to ensure that your rights are not violated during this process. This is not always easy with a grand jury process.

If you have been arrested and are facing a grand jury to determine whether to charge you, contactIrvinecriminal attorney Staycie Sena for a review of your case.