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Grand Jury
New York State St. Lawrence County and the State of Alaska have differences and
similarities in grand jury. Basically the definition of grand jury is a group of people usually
twelve members being selected and affirmed in to the court. However there is a difference in a
grand jury; these twelve members have to sit for a long time in federal court.
In New York State St. Lawrence County, the role of a grand jury is to examine evidence
from the crime scene given by the prosecutor and determine whether the evidence is being
strongly supported. For example if a man burglarized a jewelry store and left fingerprints on the
glass and left his gun on the counter. The evidence that would be shown to the grand jury would
be the fingerprint on the glass and the gun. Then the grand jury would vote if the evidence was
found to be accurate and could support that the person committed the crime.
Grand jurors are selected from a list of possible jurors. To be qualified on the list of the
possible jurors you will have to be qualified as a voter meaning anyone who is eighteen, a US
Citizen and registered to vote. If you pay taxes then you are qualified to be on the list of the
possible jurors and also if you obtain a drivers license. For New York State St. Lawrence County
between sixteen to twenty three jurors are chosen to sit on a grand jury during the proceedings.
Some of the ethical issues that show a major concern of the grand jury is the damage of
one’s reputation. In other words if the accused is being brought before a grand jury this can ruin
the person being accused reputation. Being brought before a grand jury could also taint the jury
pool if the case goes to trial. Another ethical issue is discrimination, in other words if the grand
jurors jump to conclusion that a black man should be found guilty without being shown any
evidence. This wouldn’t be fair to the black man if a white man did the same crime and the grand
jurors decided that the white man should not be found guilty.
In the State of Alaska the role of a grand jury is the same in New York State St Lawrence
County. But the only difference is that the state of Alaska chooses eighteen jurors to sit on a
grand jury during the proceedings. Some states requires lesser grand jurors such as Louisiana has
twelve jurors however in Louisiana nine out of the twelve jurors have to decide if the evidence
presented can determine if the person is found guilty or not guilty. The grand jurors then vote
“True Bill” or “No Bill”. Depending on the majority of the votes then that will be the decision. If
most of the grand jurors decides on “True Bill” then “True Bill” will be the decision.
The similarities between the State of Alaska and the State of New York are the role of a
grand jury. Basically every state has the same role of a grand jury. Another similarity is the
grand juries proceeding are private, since the grand jurors have to be sworn into secrecy.
In conclusion, the average number of grand jurors is sixteen to twenty three and the least
number of grand jurors is twelve. Basically the grand jury is given evidence that can lead them to
decide on whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. The grand jury will have to
answer “True Bill” or “No Bill”; true bill means that the evidence is sufficient to go to an
indictment and no bill means that the evidence is not sufficient and can’t go to an indictment.

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