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grand jury

grand jury

259 6.2
A group of citizens who decide if there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime
  • noun
  • /ɡrænd ˈdʒʊəri/
  • Formal
translation icon : gran jurado
  • I'll have this thing in front of a grand jury by Monday.
  • grand jury indicts
  • grand jury subpoena
  • testify before a grand jury

And then he's the one that oversaw the P Diddy grand jury and his prosecution.

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Examples

  • " If you put me before a grand jury, I will tell the truth.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The purpose of the prosecutor, much like the purpose of the grand jury, is to search for truth.

  • - Go ahead with your grand jury investigation.

  • Your client can answer my questions here or he can answer them in front of a grand jury.

  • There'll be a grand jury by noon tomorrow.

  • I've read the grand jury testimony.

  • Both federal and state grand juries continue looking into that and other drug pricing matters.

    Academic text (2002)
  • After their exhaustive review of the evidence, the grand jury deliberated over two days, making their final decision.

  • After hearing him and other witnesses, the grand jury refused to indict Harper.

    Academic text (1995)
  • The grand jury decided to indict the suspect after hearing all the testimonies.

Surface Forms

grand jury singular
grand juries plural

Morphology

grand + jury

The word 'jury' clearly signals a legal body, so learners can infer this is a type of jury, but 'grand' does not retain its common sense of 'magnificent' here and instead marks a specific legal institution (a larger/special jury that considers indictments). A B1 learner who knows the constituents might guess it's a special or more important jury but would not be able to derive the precise procedural meaning (examining accusations and issuing indictments) without prior exposure or legal knowledge.

Etymology

Grand jury comes from the idea of a 'grand' or large group. In the past a bigger group called the grand jury looked at accusations to see if there was enough proof to 'charge' someone instead of deciding guilt at a trial. That's why today a grand jury decides whether to bring charges.