New York Criminal Defense Attorneys

Grand Jury

A grand jury is meant to be part of the system of checks and balances, preventing a case from going to trial on a prosecutor’s bare word. Both New York State and the Federal law require the grand jury presentment and indictment for the felony prosecution unless the defendant waives his grand jury right. A felony is a crime for which the law authorizes more than one year incarceration.

A prosecutor must convince the grand jury, an impartial panel of ordinary citizens, that there exists a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. The grand jury can compel witnesses to testify before them. Unlike the trial proceedings, the grand jury’s proceedings are secret; the defendant and his attorney are generally not present for other witnesses’ testimony. A judge is not present either. The grand jury’s decision is either a “true bill” (meaning that there is a case to answer), or “no true bill”. Jurors typically are drawn from the same pool of citizens as a petit jury, and participate for a specific time period.

If grand jury issues a true bill, the defendant is indicted, and the prosecution is continuing. If grand jury issues no true bill, the case is over. Nevertheless, a prosecutor can represent the case later on under certain circumstances.

Difference between Felony and Misdemeanor charges in New York

Misdemeanor is a criminal offense where a person charged faces up to 1 year in jail, in addition, to other penalties such as fine, surcharges, etc.

Felony is a criminal offense where a person charged faces over 1 year in prison, in addition to other penalties such as fines, surcharges, etc.

While this difference in jail time seems easy to understand, in practice, felony and misdemeanor have many other factors that differentiate them.

New York State Constitution requires District Attorney’s Offices (Prosecution) to present cases to Grand Jury when a person is charged with a felony in New York State, unless the accused waives this right in court before a judge.

Grand Jury is group of people that hear evidence presented by the prosecution.  This group of people is selected at random from a community where the alleged crime occurred.  A person accused of a felony can only be tried if Grand Jury determined that there is sufficient evidence to proceed with the case after an arrest. In other words, it is Grand Jury that stands between the person accused of a felony and government prosecution.

When a person is charged with a felony, (s)he has a constitutional right to testify before the Grand Jury. Felony convictions carry much higher range of sentencing, and therefore, NYS legislature afforded more protection to people charged with felonies. For example, when a police officer charges a person with a felony based on its investigation, a grand jury will review presented evidence, such as the police officer’s and other witnesses’ testimonies, to determine if there was indeed enough evidence to charge this person with a felony.  In addition, when charged with a felony, an accused has a constitutional right to offer its own testimony in grand jury, and, if believed, grand jury may dismiss the indictment.

However, if a grand jury does not believe the accused, but instead finds the presented evidence credible, the grand jury will confirm the charges and a felony complaint that was filed to support an arrest will transform into a grand jury indictment. Moreover, a Grand Jury has power to add charges (if prosecution offers them to do so), as well as to lower the charges, i.e., indict on lesser charge, if they don’t fully accept the presented evidence. As noted earlier, the Grand Jury has power to completely dismiss the charges thus bringing a criminal matter to an end.

In contrast to a felony, Misdemeanor charge does not lead to a Grand Jury.  In a misdemeanor prosecution, it is the complainant (usually called a complaining witness, or, a victim; it can also be an arresting police officer) who must sign a supporting deposition for the prosecution to move forward towards the trial.  Prosecution must obtain a signed supporting deposition from a complaining witness and to convert the case within 90 days of defendant’s arraignment, otherwise case will be dismissed.

If you have an open criminal matter and you are not clear what is going on with your case, you can always contact New York Criminal Defense Attorneys – Sharifov & Assocites, PLLC for a consultation. We will analyze your case, discuss your best defenses and possible outcomes and explain the process to you.

You can also contact us if you need a second opinion from experienced criminal defense attorneys in New York – Sharifov & Associates, PLLC.

516-505-2300       718- 368-2800    SharifovR@LawfirmSR.com