WHAT IS A GRAND JURY AND A GRAND JURY PROCEEDING?

A Grand Jury is an impaneled body consisting of not less than 16 and not more than 23 people. CPL § 190.05. The District Attorney’s Office presents its felony case to a Grand Jury to determine if there is reasonable cause to believe a felony was committed and if there is reasonable cause to believe the accused is the individual who committed the felony.  A grand Jury proceeding is not a trial. Rather, the grand jury is needed to determine whether the District Attorney’s office has enough evidence to pursue a criminal trial. The grand jury proceeding is not conducted in front of a Judge or inside of a courtroom. The proceedings are essentially secretive and one-sided. In other words, grand jury proceedings are the “DA show”. There is a court reporter present during the proceedings to generate a transcript of the testimony.

After hearing all the testimony and seeing all the evidence the DA presents, the grand jury votes to secure an indictment. The vote to indict does not have to be unanimous but is a “super majority” where at least 12 grand jury members vote in the affirmative to indict. If the grand jury votes to indict the accused, this is called a “true bill of indictment.” If the grand jury does not reach the minimum amount of yes votes to indict, then the accused remains unindicted with the criminal charges likely getting dismissed.

It is crucial that you discuss your grand jury rights and the procedure with your attorney. It is further important to discuss the pros and cons of testifying in the grand jury of your own case before making such a decision.