grand jury

Examples of grand jury in the following topics:

• The Fifth Amendment

  • The right was asserted at grand jury or congressional hearings in the 1950s, when witnesses testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities or the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee claimed the right in response to questions concerning their alleged membership in the Communist Party.
  • No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
  • A grand jury investigating the fire that destroyed the Arcadia Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts in 1913.
  • The Fifth Amendment states that everyone deserves a Grand Jury in the case of a capital crime.

• The Sixth Amendment and the Right to Counsel

  • Individuals subject to grand jury proceedings do not have a Sixth Amendment right to counsel because grand juries are not considered by the U.S.
  • A grand jury investigating the fire that destroyed the Arcadia Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts in 1913.

• U.S. District Courts

  • Meanwhile, criminal cases involve a U.S. attorney (the prosecutor), a grand jury, and a defendant.
  • The purpose of the grand jury is to review evidence presented by the prosecutor to decide whether a defendant should stand trial.

• The Fifth Amendment, Self-Incrimination, and Double Jeopardy

  • For instance, grand juries and the phrase "due process" (also found in the 14th Amendment) both trace their origins to the Magna Carta.
  • The text of the Fifth Amendment reads as follows: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
  • Jeopardy "attaches" when the jury is impaneled, the first witness is sworn, or a plea is accepted.
  • The prohibition extends to a directed verdict before the case is submitted to the jury, a directed verdict after a deadlocked jury, an appellate reversal for sufficiency (except by direct appeal to a higher appellate court), and an "implied acquittal" via conviction of a lesser included offense.

• Impeachment and Removal from Office

  • A United States federal judge named Walter Nixon was convicted of committing perjury before a grand jury.
  • Trial by the other house is analogous to the trial before judge and jury in regular courts.
  • For example, when the Judicial Conference of the United States suggests a federal judge be impeached, a charge of what actions constitute grounds for impeachment may come from a special prosecutor, the President, a state or territorial legislature, grand jury, or by petition.

• The Exclusionary Rule

  • In strict cases, when an illegal action is used by police/prosecution to gain any incriminating result, all evidence whose recovery stemmed from the illegal action can be thrown out from a jury.
  • The exclusionary rule was passed in 1917, and does not apply in a civil case, a grand jury proceeding, or a parole revocation hearing.

• Incorporation Doctrine

  • Amendment V, the right to indictment by a grand jury, has been held not to be incorporated against the states, but protection against double jeopardy and protection against self-incrimination have been incorporated against the states in Malloy v.
  • Amendment VII, right to a jury trial in civil cases, has been held not to be applicable to the states.
  • Amendment VIII, the right to jury trial in civil cases has been held not to be incorporated against the states, but protection against "cruel and unusual punishments" has been incorporated against the states.
  • Amendment VI, the right to a trial by a jury and the right to counsel, was incorporated against the states in the case Gideon v.
  • Here, this right is exercised as an attorney asks questions during jury selection.

• The Bill of Rights

  • In federal criminal cases, the Bill of Rights requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime", guarantees a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury composed of members of the state or judicial district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.

• The Sixth Amendment and Jury Trials

  • The right to a jury has always depended on the nature of the offense with which the defendant is charged.
  • Petty offenses are those punishable by imprisonment for not more than six months and are not covered by the jury requirement.
  • It has been held that twelve came to be the number of jurors by "historical accident," and that a jury of six would be sufficient, but anything less would deprive the defendant of a right to trial by jury.
  • Although on the basis of history and precedent the Sixth Amendment mandates unanimity in a federal jury trial, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, while requiring States to provide jury trials for serious crimes, does not incorporate all the elements of a jury trial within the meaning of the Sixth Amendment and does not require jury unanimity.
  • The Sixth Amendment requires juries to be impartial.

• The Seventh Amendment

  • The Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, part of the original Bill of Rights, codifies the right to a jury trial in certain civil cases, and asserts that cases may not be re-examined by another court.
  • In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.