Both grand jury review and preliminary hearings are conducted before felony charges such as forgery. Both of them are used to determine whether the evidence presented against the defendant is strong enough for the case to proceed to trial. However, there is a significant difference between the two court proceedings. These differences are outlined below.
The preliminary hearings are conducted before a judge, a group of civilians and lawyers from the defendant and government side. The jury is usually absent in this case. The judge is responsible for evaluating the evidence presented by both sides. Normally, the prosecutor presents physical evidence and testimonies to show that a probable cause exists for the case to proceed to trial ( Sola-Morales v. State , 2014). The defendant’s attorney presents counterarguments and examines the witnesses to get the judge to dismiss the charges against his/her client. After a hearing session, the judge determines whether the case will go to trial or not depending on the strength of the evidence that was presented. Grand jury review, on the other hand, is conducted in the absence of a judge, civilians, and lawyers. The only people who are involved are the jury and the prosecutor. The prosecutor is in charge of explaining the law to the jury and presenting evidence. This evidence includes testimonies from witnesses ( Kaley v. US , 2014).
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Grand jury review requires more privacy and discretion compared to a preliminary hearing. In grand jury review, the prosecutor depends on the evidence from witnesses to persuade the jury. This is a sensitive scenario since some of the witnesses are scared of retaliation because of the information that they give. Therefore, the prosecutor has to exercise discretion for the witnesses to speak entirely. Furthermore, discretion is important to protect the reputation of the defendant. This is the reason why grand jury reviews are conducted without public participation. However, preliminary hearings are open to the public involvement ( Sola-Morales v. State , 2014).
Lastly, while both grand jury review and preliminary hearings serve an essential purpose in courts, preliminary hearings are more common compared to jury review. Many states prefer to use preliminary hearings rather than grand jury review.
References
Kaley v. US , 134 S. Ct. 1090, 571 U.S., 188 L. Ed. 2d 46 (2014).
Sola-Morales v. State , 335 P.3d 1162, 300 Kan. 875 (2014).
