grand jury

grand jury
grand jury n: a jury that examines accusations against persons charged with crime and if the evidence warrants makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried see also no bill and true bill at bill 3b, indictment compare petit jury, special grand jury

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. . 1996.

grand jury
n.
A group of people who are selected to investigate an alleged crime and indict suspected criminals. See also petit jury

The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. . 2008.


grand jury
A group of people chosen at random that sits on a regular basis to hear evidence brought by a prosecutor. The prosecutor presents evidence against a person that he or she thinks will justify an indictment (formal charges) and a trial. Grand juries, unlike petit juries, meet in secret, need not reach unanimous decisions, and do not decide on a person's guilt or evidence (they only decide whether the person should stand trial). (See also: petit jury)
Category: Criminal Law
Category: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits

Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. . 2009.


grand jury
A panel of citizens that is convened by a court to decide whether it is appropriate for the government to indict (proceed with a prosecution against) someone suspected of a crime.

Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.


grand jury
I
A panel of citizens that is convened by a court to decide whether it is appropriate for the government to indict (proceed with a prosecution against) someone suspected of a crime.
 II A jury of inquiry whose duty it is to receive complaints and accusations in criminal matters and if appropriate issue a formal indictment.

Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.

Grand Jury
n.
   a jury in each county or federal court district which serves for a term of a year and is usually selected from a list of nominees offered by the judges in the county or district. The traditional 23 members may be appointed or have their names drawn from those nominated. A Grand Jury has two responsibilities 1) to hear evidence of criminal accusations in possible felonies (major crimes) presented by the District Attorney and decide whether the accused should be indicted and tried for a crime. Since many felony charges are filed by the District Attorney in a municipal or other lower court which holds a preliminary hearing to determine if there is just cause for trial instead of having the Grand Jury hear the matter, this function is of minor importance in many jurisdictions.
   2) to hear evidence of potential public wrong-doing by city and county officials, including acts which may not be crimes but are imprudent, ineffective or inefficient, and make recommendations to the county and cities involved. Example: a Grand Jury may recommend that a new jail is needed, find that there is evidence of favoritism in the sheriff's office, that some city council members are profiting by overlooking drug dealing by city staffers, or that judges are not carrying a full load of cases to be tried.

Law dictionary. . 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Grand Jury — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Grand jury peut faire référence à : le grand jury, un type de jury dans certains systèmes judiciaires ; Le Grand Jury, une émission de radio… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • grand jury — ➔ jury * * * grand jury UK US noun [C] US LAW ► a group of people who decide if there is enough information to believe that a crime has been committed to begin a trial: »Mr. Barney was the first witness to testify before the grand jury. »grand… …   Financial and business terms

  • grand jury — grand juries N COUNT A grand jury is a jury, usually in the United States, which considers a criminal case in order to decide if someone should be tried in a court of law. They have already given evidence before a grand jury in Washington …   English dictionary

  • grand jury — n. a special jury of a statutory number of citizens, usually more than 12, that investigates accusations against persons charged with crime and indicts them for trial before a petit jury if there is sufficient evidence …   English World dictionary

  • grand jury — ► NOUN US Law ▪ a jury selected to examine the validity of an accusation prior to trial …   English terms dictionary

  • Grand Jury — (engl., spr. gränd dschūrĭ), soviel wie Anklagejury (s. d.) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • grand jury — n law a group of people in the US who decide whether someone charged with a crime should be judged in a court of law >grand juror n …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Grand Jury — Grand Ju|ry [ grænd dʒuəri] die; <aus gleichbed. engl. grand jury> ↑Gremium im amerik. Strafprozessrecht, das die öffentliche Anklage auf Ablehnung od. Zulassung prüft …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

  • Grand Jury —   [grænd dʒʊərɪ] die, , im amerikanischen Strafprozessrecht Gremium (Anklagejury) von auf Zeit ernannten Bürgern, die vor Beginn des eigentlichen Strafprozesses die öffentliche Anklage (englisch indictment) prüfen, um sie abzulehnen oder bei… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • grand jury — noun count * a group of people used in the U.S. legal system for deciding whether someone accused of a crime should be brought to trial in a court of law …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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