Grand Jury Proceedings in Arizona

Tucson Criminal Defense Lawyers

What is a Grand Jury?
A grand jury is a jury of citizens, which considers a criminal case in order to decide if someone should be tried in a court of law.  The grand jury listens to the prosecutor and witnesses, and then votes in secret on whether they believe that enough evidence exists to charge the person with a crime.  NOTE:  This is much different from a criminal trial jury, who listen to evidence put on by both sides and then must decide whether the prosecution has proven each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

A grand jury views evidence put on by the prosecution only, and must simply decide whether enough evidence exists to charge (indict) a possible defendant.  They also may decide not to charge an individual based upon a lack of evidence, in which case no indictment would come from the grand jury.

All proceedings and statements made before a grand jury are sealed, meaning that only the people in the room have knowledge about who said what about whom. The grand jury is a constitutional requirement for certain types of crimes (meaning it is written in the United States Constitution) so that a group of citizens who do not know the defendant can make an unbiased decision about the evidence before voting to charge an individual with a crime.

Practically speaking, a grand jury is a group of between 9 and 16 people whose job it is to review potential criminal charges that the prosecutor wants to file against a defendant.  They are chosen from the general population and instructed on the grand jury process, and on the law applicable to a particular case.

Who can be a Grand Jury?
Grand jurors can be nearly any member of the public. They do not need to have a legal background. There are only a few qualifications to be a grand juror. Jurors have to:

• be at least 18 years old,
• be a U.S. citizen,
• be a resident of the jurisdiction in which the grand jury is going to sit,
• not have a felony-level conviction on their criminal background or, if they do, their civil
  rights must have been restored, and
• not been adjudicated mentally incompetent or insane.
  

What is the Time Period of Service of Grand Jurors?
The time period for Grand jurors depends on the size of their county:
• 120 days, if the county has more than 200,000 people in it, like in Pima or Maricopa County, or
• 180 days, if the county has fewer than 200,000 people.

How Grand Jury Proceedings takes place?
How a grand jury works is much more relaxed than normal court room proceedings. There is no judge present and frequently there are no lawyers except for the prosecutor. The prosecutor will explain the law to the jury and work with them to gather evidence and hear testimony. Under normal courtroom rules of evidence, exhibits and other testimony must adhere to strict rules before admission. However, a grand jury has broad power to see and hear almost anything they would like.

How Does a Grand Jury Differ from a Preliminary Hearing?
While all states have provisions in their laws that allow for grand juries, roughly half of the states don't use them. Courts often use preliminary hearings prior to criminal trials which are adversarial in nature. As with grand juries, preliminary hearings are meant to determine whether there is enough evidence, or probable cause, to indict a criminal suspect. Unlike a grand jury, a preliminary hearing is usually open to the public and involves lawyers on both sides and a judge (not so with grand juries which only involve the jurors and the prosecutor). Sometimes, a preliminary hearing precedes a grand jury. One of the biggest differences between the two is the requirement that a defendant request a preliminary hearing, although the court may decline a request.

What happens after a grand jury indictment?
If the grand jury decides to indict the person under investigation, the prosecutor will present
a draft indictment that lists the criminal charges to be filed. The grand jury can alter this draft indictment. The final version of the indictment is the true bill. It names the criminal charges that are actually to be filed against the defendant. All necessarily included offenses in each charge are implied in the indictment.

The grand jury may then issue the defendant a summons to appear in court, or an arrest warrant for the defendant. If the defendant is arrested, he or she has a right to an initial appearance within 24 hours.  At the initial appearance, the arraignment and an initial pretrial conference will be scheduled or, if the defendant takes a plea agreement, a sentencing date will be set.

Challenging Grand Jury Proceedings
Because Grand Jury proceedings are conducted in secret, a defendant does not have the opportunity to object to, or to present any of their own evidence at the hearing.  However, if the grand jury does indict someone, a transcript of those proceedings is made available to the defense.  In the event that evidence was presented in an unfair way, i.e. the prosecution had exculpatory evidence that it failed to present, or presented knowingly false evidence at the hearing, the defendant can challenge the indictment.  The process by which this is done is called a motion to dismiss or remand, wherein a defendant asks the court to review the transcript and consider whether the evidence was properly presented.  If not, the court may dismiss the case, or send it back for new grand jury proceedings, this time without the evidentiary error that occurred the first time.

IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH A CRIME IN ARIZONA, CONTACT THE TUCSON DEFENDERS FOR A FREE CONSULTATION WITH A CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY.  520-585-5757.