I'd say that in high profile cases where there could be strong political pressure on prosecutors, grand juries offer a better chance for due process.
Wojtek
On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 2:27 PM, Chuck Grimes <c123grimes at att.net> wrote:
> In my opinion, this is superior (from a due process pov) to prosecutor's
> discretion whether to file charges.
>
> wojtek
> --------------
>
> I think that is a mistake. I think the rules of evidence, what is admissible
> and what isn't are looser making it easier to gain reasonable suspicion.
> There is no cross-examination, so the witnesses are not tested for
> creditibility. I don't know about the rules of discovery. You can have a
> lawyer with you. They sit, watch, take notes, maybe confer with you, but
> they play no active role in the proceedings.
>
> This comes up in context of the Penn State Sandusky case. In this context,
> it was probably a wise decision to use the grand jury system, primarily to
> protect the identities of the boys involved and gain access to evidence that
> is usually not allowed, hearsay, for example. He told me such and such.
>
> CG
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