Reply #5: A piece on grand juries from the University of Dayton website

[FVZA_Colonel]

here: http://www.udayton.edu/~grandjur/feedback/feedbak5.htm

Does a grand jury referral establish a prima facie case?

Also, if a case has been referred to the grand jury, is that an indication that a prima facie case has been established?

Response: No--the purpose of the grand jury is to decide if there is probable cause to believe one or more crimes have been committed. In this regard, the grand jury functions very much like a detective: The detective investigates to determine if a crime has been committed and, if he/she finds that a crime has been committed, the detective decides who did it and should be charged.


Regardless of DeLay's actuall guilt, the Grand Jury has decided that there is probable cause to warrant an investigation, but this does not confirm automatic guilt.