Murder grand jury procedure

On May 22, 8:29 am, Chris <Electric.Skep...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Australian novelist is writing a story involving a USA murder trial]

> What I need to know is along the lines of what the order of the
> various things (grand jury, arraignment, bail hearing, trial, etc.,)
> is and what the time periods between them is likely to be, along with
> any other pertinent information

These matters vary considerably from state to state.   What IMO you really need to do is find one or more "legal consultants" for your book in the state where the action takes place, and then milk those persons for the info you need (and of course, give effusive credit to them in your book's introduction).

> (for example, situations in which
> (hypothetically) a grand jury mightn't be needed,

In some jurisdictions a criminal complaint for a felony such as murder can be issued on an "information" (the result of a police investigation) and does not require an "indictment" (the result of a grand jury hearing).

> at what point is a defense attorney assigned

Whenever the suspect wants to get one, if he can afford it, including before he is even a suspect.

If you're talking about a state-assigned attorney for an indigent defendant, he also can get one of those as soon as he asks for one, at any time after his arrest (as noted, of course, in the famous "Miranda" warnings).

> - do they represent him at the grand jury,

The defendant is not going to be called to testify at a grand jury.   He has a 5th amendment right not to testify against himself.   The people who get called to testify at the grand jury are not "suspects", but "witnesses", i.e. those who have any kind of information that _might_ be used to determine whether the state has shown sufficient probable cause to prove that (a) a crime has been committed, (b) which criminal offense should be charged on those facts, and (c) against whom the charges should be brought.

AFAIK in most jurisdictions there is no right to have defense consel present at a grand jury hearing, which is held in a sealed chamber and not open to the public.  Only the prosecutor and the witness who is testifying are there at any one time (along with the grand jury itself, of course).

> Does anyone know of a website which might give me this sort of
> information?

The official website of the state court system in question may have a FAQ that could help you

> Or is anyone prepared to help me out in this thread?

I'm sure you'll get more useful responses if you tell us more about the exact situation (without revealing any whodunit details, etc.) but if suspense is an issue, you're better off getting a private (and confidential) consultant than fishing for ideas on a public forum.  Good luck,

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