Grand juries operate as secret, prosecutor-dominated accusatory bodies under a probable-cause standard.

Evidence

Also, whereas trial jurors sit on a single case, grand jurors are empanelled for a set term, typically 3 months, and during that period, Se the prosecutor brings a large number of cases before them for review. … Grand juries do not determine the guilt or innocence of defendants but rather serve investigative and accusatory functions. In some states, grand juries investigate issues of official corruption and organized crime, but in most their primary responsibility is to determine whether there i ient ict defendants. … In most states, trial juries in serious criminal cases can convict defendants only by a unanimous vote. Grand juries, however, indict defendants by a plurality vote—from a simple majority to a two-thirds vote, depending on state law. Moreover, the standard that grand juries use in deciding whether to indict is probable cause, rather than the more stringent standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. … Unlike trials, grand jury hearings are conducted in secret, partly to protect the reputations of those against whom there is insufficient evidence to indict. Most states relax the rules of evidence that operate at trial. For example, prosecutors in a grand ee ee y seized evidence that would be inadmissible at trial. Also, in most states witnesses are not allowed to have an attorney with them during grand jury proceedings. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1709

Categorization

• XREF: Carries forward the ch80 claim that grand juries and preliminary hearings are safeguards against prosecutorial abuse — but this detail undercuts the ‘safeguard’ framing. — connects to: The grand jury and preliminary hearings are twin safeguards against prosecutorial abuse. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1700