1. by turning to the fifth article of the amendments to the constitution, you will find these words: “no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury; except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger.” this constitutional provision makes a grand jury a very important agent or instrumentality in the execution of the laws, and also a safeguard of the liberties and rights of the people. it secures every person from the expense and disgrace of a trial for infamous crimes, unless a grand jury of his countrymen[442] shall find upon inquiry and investigation, that there are good reasons for believing that the person so charged has committed the alleged offense.
2. this provision not only protects those who are charged with these crimes against the laws of the united states, but those also who may be charged with such offenses against the laws of any state; for no state can arrest and try any person for a capital or infamous crime without these preliminary proceedings of a grand jury; and should it do so, the united states supreme court would set its laws aside, as contrary to the constitution of the united states. here we see that the government is just as careful to protect its citizens from injustice by hasty judicial proceedings as it is to punish them after a fair and impartial trial.
3. a grand jury, when called to take cognizance of violations of the laws of the united states, to find indictments against those who are charged with them, is summoned by a judge of a united states court in the circuit or district where the alleged crime has been perpetrated; and it must take notice of all crimes against the laws of the united states, which may be brought to its knowledge, within the circuit or district in which it sits. hence, if ordered by a circuit judge, its powers extend over all those states which lie in that circuit. but when ordered by a district judge, its powers extend only to that district in which it sits, and a district never embraces more than one state, and in many cases a state is divided into two or three districts.
4. this shows us how much more extensive is the jurisdiction of a grand jury, when acting under the laws of the united states, than when acting under state laws. in the former it extends generally all over a state, and sometimes over several states. but in the latter it is confined to the county in which it sits.
grand and petit juries.
a grand jury never acts but in criminal cases. a petit jury acts in both criminal and civil cases. the finding or[443] conclusion arrived at by a grand jury is called a presentment, or an indictment. the finding of a petit jury is called its verdict.
5. second, a grand jury sits alone (not in the presence of the court), and deliberates upon such matters of a criminal character as it possesses knowledge of, or which may be brought to its notice by the court or by other persons; and when it finds that great evils exist, and wrongs have been perpetrated, it presents them to the court, and calls the attention of the law officers to them; which is equivalent to a recommendation that judicial proceedings should be commenced to abate the evil, or to punish the wrong-doer. this is called a presentment of the grand jury.
and when they find, upon such evidence as they have, that a great crime has been perpetrated, or that they have good reason so to believe, and that it has been perpetrated by some person specified, they report their finding or conclusion to the court. this is called an indictment by the grand jury; after which the person so charged is arrested, if at large, and can be found, and is either imprisoned or held to bail for his appearance at court to stand trial.
6. a grand jury never tries a case. it only says to the court by its presentment or indictment, that the case presented, or the person indicted, ought to be brought before the court, and tried for the alleged wrong or crime.
a petit jury sits with the court, hears the pleadings and arguments of counsel on both sides, listens to the evidence of witnesses; and then hears the charge of the judge, as to the law applicable to the case; after which they withdraw and deliberate alone upon the case, and if they agree in a criminal case, their verdict is “guilty,” or “not guilty;” if in a civil suit, they say how much one party is indebted (if any), to the other.
7. the object aimed at in that article of the constitution which stands at the head of this chapter, is to protect persons from false charges of crime, and hasty adjudication of such[444] charges; for it substantially amounts to a declaration that no person shall be punished for a capital or infamous crime, unless one jury, before trial, shall, upon information and belief, charge him with the offense; and another, after trial, shall find him guilty of the alleged crime.
the above remarks are as applicable to grand and petit juries, acting under state, as those which act under the united states laws.
