CathyCA wrote:Very few attorneys are familiar with the grand jury process since only prosecutors are allowed in the grand jury room. I can recall only one lecture in law school about the grand jury process, and that was more than half my life ago. (But I do know that grand juries don't reach verdicts.) Lawgrad likely appears before the grand jury several times a year.
One time I heard a prosecutor say, "Notre Bill was returned."
I thought, "Notre Bill? Is that like Notre Dame's little brother?"
Then I realized that she was saying "no TRUE bill."
Intimate Grand Jury knowledge is not required, knowing they do not reach verdicts is pretty basic if you are an attorney.
For those who have never had the pleasure –
Grand Juries are not adversarial. They are not about guilt or innocence, but in the simplest form “is there enough evidence here to pursue the case”. They had down indictments (aka ‘true bills’). Generally the case is presented to the GJ by an Assistant US Attorney (in the course of the year of service, one day a week, you get to know the A-USAs pretty well) Usually testimony is from federal agents (FBI, Secret Service, DEA, ICE). The Grand Jury deliberates and determines if the feds have proven the elements of whatever the crime(s) is (are). Truth be told it is almost always a rubber stamp.
The other things little miss legal eagle missed is that it was too soon for me to serve on a Petit Jury. Federal Grand Jury gives you a two year exemption so that you never server on a petit jury where you could have grand jury knowledge of the case. I would have said that, but I was having too much fun with her not knowing grand juries don't had down verdicts.
Another tidbit…Grand Jury service is exceptionally hard to get out of, and Federal judges have a short fuse for juror bullshit. Our judge excused 4 people out a of a pool of over 40.
MORE COFFEE!! 
