Parties and Pretrial Procedures (Essay Sample)

Parties and Pretrial Procedures Name Institution Parties and Pretrial Procedures The grand jury plays a significant role in the criminal procedure, but not the one that involves a finding of guilt or punishment of the defendant. Usually, prosecutors work with the grand jury to decide whether to issue criminal charges or an indictment against a potential defendant. It should be noted that this is usually reserved for serious felonies. Notably, the grand jury is one of the initial procedures in any criminal trial in the United States. The grand jury is often used rather than the prosecutor simply issuing a criminal charge since their proceedings are much more relaxed than the normal court proceedings. Also, it allows the prosecutor to explain the law to the jury and work with them to collect evidence and hear testimony. Additionally, grand juries serves to encourage witnesses to speak freely and without any fear of retaliation and to protect the potential defendant's reputation in case the jury does not reach an indictment decision. Moreover, the grand jury is crucial as it ensures that the prosecutor has enough evidence to issue a charge against a potential defendant in order to avoid futile proceedings (Branham, 2013). The grand jury may only issue an indictment for a crime (true bill) only if it finds, after considering the evidence presented, that there is a probable cause to believe that a crime was committed by a suspect. Moreover, since grand juries meet behind closed doors, their proceedings are usually cloaked in secrecy. At the beginning of each case, the prosecutor will give the grand jury a true bill containing all the criminal charges being levelled against the potential defendant (Branham, 2013). The prosecutor will then present witnesses and any other evidence to support the charges. After the presentation of all the evidence, the grand jury then determines if there is probable cause to support the charges. If the grand jury finds there is enough evidence to support the charges, they will issue a true bill indictment. On the other hand, if the grand jury finds there is no probable cause to support the charges, they will issue an indictment of no bill (Hall, 2012). Contrary to the regular juries, grand juries usually operate behind closed doors as aforementioned. This implies that the defendant and his or her attorney are not allowed to be present as only the prosecuting attorney and any subpoenaed witnesses are authorized to be in attendance during the proceedings. Unlike a petit jury, which resolves a specific criminal or civil case, a grand jury (typically containing twelve to twenty three members) serves as a group for a sustained period of time in all or many of the cases that arise in the jurisdiction. This is generally done under the supervision of a federal attorney, a county district attorney, or a state attorney general and hears the evidence without the potential defendant being involved in the proceedings. Even when summoned, the defendant or the attorney representing him or her may choose not to be present since witnesses are not cross-examined during the grand jury proceedings. Prosecutors and defense attorneys usually attempt to resolve a case prior to it being taken to the grand jury through the means of the 14th Amendment's due process, both procedural and substantive. The substantive due process seeks to safeguard those individual rights which do not have a specific textual basis in the Constitution alongside its Amendments. Alternatively, the procedural due process is a principle required by the Constitution that when the federal or state government act in such a way that denies a citizen of a life, property interest or liberty, the individual must first be given notice and the opportunity to be heard. Thus, it is the factors of the nature of the United States' due process that has influenced the development of the plea bargaining aspect within the criminal justice system (Hall, 2012). Plea bargains can be termed as agreements between the defense attorneys and the prosecutors where defendants agree to plead guilty to either part or all the charges against them in exchange for conces...