Criminal Attorney and the Grand Jury

Citizens who have been called to serve on the Grand Jury will get to observe many a criminal attorney, prosecutor, judge and an array of courthouse dramas. If the average citizen receives a jury summons in the mail, he or she will have to arrive at the courthouse on a specific day at a specific time. There he or she will be questioned by various legal personnel, including the criminal attorney, prosecutor and judge. Each member of a court case will be able to weigh in on who is picked for the jury. Obviously, each side of the case wants a jurist who will see things their way. Individuals will be asked lots of questions about their background and information that may possibly skew their view of an impending criminal case. Grand juries are a bit different, however. Here are some ways they're different from the average jury:

- Length of service: Grand jurists won't be obligated for one case; they'll be coming to the courthouse weekly for a period of time such as six months or even a year. This is quite a time commitment but many individuals say it's an experience they'd not trade in. This is a great way to learn all about the court systems and hear interesting stories about humanity.

- What they do: Where regular juries decide whether a person is innocent or guilty, these grand panels have a different decision to make. They simply have to decide whether there's enough evidence to bring a case to trial, at all. Their mission is to take a look at the facts, evidence and vote on whether there is enough meat in this charge to go through with a trial.

- Not as much evidence as a regular trial: In a regular court case, an accused must have enough stacked against him or her that the juried panel is sure the crime was committed. If there is a shadow of a doubt, the accused person has to be considered innocent. In the stage of the legal process where the grand juried citizens are just voting on possible cause, much less evidence needs to be presented.

- Secret proceedings: A judge isn't in attendance during these secret proceedings. Each jurist takes an oath that he or she won't repeat anything that's said while they're deciding whether a case should move forward. There are many cases that never go to court and were false accusations. If an innocent person was accused of abuse by a disgruntled spouse, for example, it could ruin his or her reputation if word leaked out that he or she had ever been accused at all. Secrecy is crucial.

The criminal attorney is the legal professional who defends the individual who has been charged. The prosecutor is the professional who is trying to make the charges stick and prove that the person did commit the crime. Juries, lawyers on both side of the argument and judges all play an important role in defending the innocent and punishing the guilty.