What is the purpose of a Grand Jury?

Unless waived by the accused, every felony case must be indicted by a grand jury. A prosecutor presents the evidence in the cases. If the grand jury finds probable cause, an indictment is returned. If probable cause is found lacking, the case is no-billedand dismissed.

Historically, the grand jurys role was to be a buffer between the accused and improper criminal prosecutions. It was envisioned that a grand jury would consist of ordinary citizens who would make an independent analysis of the evidence. Sadly, this has turned out to rarely be the case.

A grand jurys decision is limited to the information that is provided by the presenter, in this case the prosecutor. If the prosecutor believes the case should be indicted he can certainly present the case in a way which is likely to get that result. Further, each empanelled grand jury hears hundreds of cases during their term and time does not permit thorough investigation and analysis.

The accused does not have a right to testify before the grand jury, but many prosecutors welcome the testimony. There is no right to counsel in the grand jury room. The accused must be placed under oath and the prosecutor can examine him about any topic he deems relevant. You can see why we at the firm are loath to allow such an examination. Our clients hire us for protection and there is very little we can do to protect them in the grand jury room.

There are rare instances where the prosecution agrees that a particular case requires more that the usual grand jury attention. Often that is because of a sense by the prosecutor that the case is not a strong one, and continued prosecution is not in the best interest of justice. In such a case, we may consider allowing our client to testify. We might even provide the prosecutor information from our file. But let us reiterate that this is rare. Grand jury proceedings have become a rubber stamp procedure as of late and we don't see a change in policy coming in the near future.

Contact a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney from our firm as soon as possible if you have been arrested or are under investigation.

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