The goal of a grand jury is simply to determine if there is enough evidence for a case to go to trial. The members of the grand jury are asked to decide if there is probable cause based on the evidence of criminal activity. If there is, they can then recommend that the case moves forward to a trial (petite) jury.
What this means is that the grand jury is not in charge of determining a person’s guilt or innocence. If someone is facing white-collar crime allegations and the case goes before a grand jury, even if the grand jury finds that there is probable cause, that does not mean that the individual has been convicted or is guilty of a crime.
Instead, the grand jury is working to filter cases. If someone is accused of criminal activity, but there is zero evidence against them, it is a waste of time and resources for their case to go through a trial jury. The grand jury can step in preemptively by determining there is not probable cause.
A grand jury is private
One of the key details to note about a grand jury is that the proceedings are private. The public does not necessarily get to see any of the evidence or hear statements from the jurors on why they made the decision that they made. This keeps it from harming a person’s reputation if it is eventually determined that there is not even probable cause for a trial.
Much of the time, the members of the grand jury will serve for as long as 18 months, and they may consider multiple different cases. They work to privately and efficiently determine which cases should go to trial and which charges should be dropped from the outset.
White-collar crime defense options
If your case goes to a grand jury and they find that there is probable cause, the next step will be a traditional trial. At this time, it is important to understand what white-collar criminal defense options you have, and it can help to work with an experienced attorney.