Attorney Charles Jerome Ware is renowned and consistently ranked among the best attorneys and legal counsellors in the United States. [GQ Magazine, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Columbia Flier, USA TODAY, The Howard County Sun, The Anniston Star, The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX-TV NEWS, WHUR, WHUT, MPT, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, ABA Journal, et al.]
Generally Rule 6, inter alia, of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure governs federal grand juries. And generally again, Maryland Code, Criminal Procedure, §15-411, inter alia, address Maryland state grand juries.
Even though it is essentially controlled and run by the prosecution, the Grand Jury is also frequently referred to as the "People's Panel" because the ultimate decision to charge ("indict") someone is made by vote of the members of the grand jury, who are presumably selected from the community where the alleged offense(s) occurred.
BACKGROUND
The origin of the grand jury dates back to 12th century England
The grand jury was originally a body of twelve, and later twenty-three men that served as accusers who presented indictments at the request of not only the prosecutor of the king, but also at the request of individual citizens. In 1681 the grand jury rule of secrecy was adopted. This allowed the grand jury to meet in secret, especially out of the sight of the king’s prosecutors who might interfere. This secrecy provided the grand jury great power as an independent body with oversight over the government.
The grand jury was brought from England New York
The U.S. Constitution mentions the grand jury in Article Five of the Bill of Rights:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or an indictment of a grand jury…
The grand jury served the public in two ways. First, it limited the power of government to prosecute citizens by permitting the grand jury to vote for or against an indictment and second, it had the power to make a presentment. A presentment was a public report of the grand jury’s activity. Through a presentment, the grand jury could make criminal activity known to the public, including criminal conduct committed by government officials, judges, or prosecutors.
It is significant that the grand jury is not part of any of the three branches of the U.S.
Representing the Maryland State and Federal Grand Jury Witness
Representing grand jury witnesses presents unique problems.
The procedures are without parallel to any other aspect of criminal practice. Time is often so short that counsel may first meet the client in the morning only to be arguing against civil contempt by the afternoon. Counsel and witness may know nothing about the grand jury's ultimate target. The
witness—whether or not she is represented—cannot take counsel with her into the grand jury
room.The nervous witness must face the prosecutor and a room full (16-23 citizens) of people alone.
Like any legal problem, however, preparation is the key to handling the typical grand jury case.
The more important preparation is to become fluent with grand jury procedures. Since time is usually short and knowledge regarding the United States Attorney's purposes is scant,mistakes are easily made in the opening round. The first days or, in some instances, hours on the case are not the time to make your first acquaintance with the grand jury's procedures.
I will be presenting much more helpful information on this subject of "Maryland Grand Jury Basics" in coming blogs. So, stay tuned.
[www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/Chapter 2: Grand Jury manual (DoJ); www.lawserver.com/Maryland Code, Criminal Procedure 15-411, 15-414; law.justia.com/codes/Maryland/2010/Section 4-103]
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