A TRUE BILL
b r e n d a l h a n n o n
_________________________________
Foreperson of the Grand Jury
scott l garland 9 - 12 - 12
_______________ ___________
Assistand United States Attorney
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
September 12, 2012
Returned into the District Court by the Grand Jurors and filed.
Granted: grand juries rarely refuse to indict. But it's not just the prosecutors behind this decision.
As someone who has served on a federal grand jury this is true (the rarity of a false bill), but is most likely due to two factors I saw over and over again:
1) The government generally doesn't bring borderline or weak cases in front of a grand jury. They have limited time and budget and don't want to pursue a case they don't feel is a sure thing (or, more accurately, a sure deal with the defendant as most cases do not go to trial).
2) Grand jury decisions need not be unanimous, only simple majority. I voted against indictment in a couple of cases I felt were weak, but they were indicted none-the-less. Further the burden of proof is not beyond a reasonable doubt but rather a preponderance of evidence[1], which is a lower bar.
Part of this is because the federal criminal case load is so heavy that there's no use to even waste money and time taking a case to a grand jury that can't lead to an indictment.
