The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Valmy]

I don't know what grand juries do, but isn't that the job of a trial or do they just duplicate?

You don't?  I thought they were a Common Law thing.

Anyway the Grand Jury just sees the evidence the Prosecutor has and decides if there is sufficient evidence to even have a trial.  The guilt or innocence of the accused is not in question so there is no defense or anything.

[Barrister]

Well one cannot say they were not thorough.

That's not usually the goal.

It is when the stakes for getting it right are so high.

I don't know what grand juries do, but isn't that the job of a trial or do they just duplicate?

We don't have grand juries, but we do have preliminary inquiries which have a somewhat similar purpose.  Do you have those in England?

[Valmy]

Anyway being on a Grand Jury is a pretty decent gig for Jury Duty.  Not alot of stress you are usually just in a meeting room and prosecuturs file in to give you their stuff and ask that you let them take the accused to trial.  You do this with a simple hand vote and then go back to work.

[mongers]

Well one cannot say they were not thorough.

That's not usually the goal.

It is when the stakes for getting it right are so high.

I don't know what grand juries do, but isn't that the job of a trial or do they just duplicate?

We don't have grand juries, but we do have preliminary inquiries which have a somewhat similar purpose.  Do you have those in England?

The police collect evidence, send it all to the Crown Prosecution Service, they have a rummage and decide whether to prosecute.

US system replace our organisation susceptible to political pressure with one that's vulnerable to public sentiment. Neither seems ideal.

[Malthus]

I can imagine Prince Rupert running them down in the Dollar Tree parking lot.

I just got a boner.

You need a modern Cromwell to send those rioters "to Hell or Connacht". 

[Ed Anger]

I can imagine Prince Rupert running them down in the Dollar Tree parking lot.

I just got a boner.

You need a modern Cromwell to send those rioters "to Hell or Connacht". 

I'm a Chuck the First man. 

[Sheilbh]

We don't have grand juries, but we do have preliminary inquiries which have a somewhat similar purpose.  Do you have those in England?

What's a preliminary inquiry involve? We have preliminary hearings at the Magistrates. The defendant can plead guilty or get bail if not already on it. The Magistrates' Court then either assign the case to themselves (if it's summary, or either-way and that's the way the decision goes) or commit it to the Crown Court (if it's indictable or either-way and it goes there, or the defendant elects to go to the Crown Court).

[Admiral Yi]

We have preliminary hearings at the Magistrates. The defendant can plead guilty or get bail if not already on it. The Magistrates' Court then either assign the case to themselves (if it's summary, or either-way and that's the way the decision goes) or commit it to the Crown Court (if it's indictable or either-way and it goes there, or the defendant elects to go to the Crown Court).

We call that an arraignment.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Anyway being on a Grand Jury is a pretty decent gig for Jury Duty.  Not alot of stress you are usually just in a meeting room and prosecuturs file in to give you their stuff and ask that you let them take the accused to trial.  You do this with a simple hand vote and then go back to work.

Depends on the jurisdiction.  In some, grand juries are empanelled for month-long terms.

[CountDeMoney]

Anyway being on a Grand Jury is a pretty decent gig for Jury Duty.  Not alot of stress you are usually just in a meeting room and prosecuturs file in to give you their stuff and ask that you let them take the accused to trial.  You do this with a simple hand vote and then go back to work.

Depends on the jurisdiction.  In some, grand juries are empanelled for month-long terms.

Yeah, worked with a guy that was on a grand jury in the city;  had that gig for about 9 months, IIIRC.  Needed every other Monday off.

[Sheilbh]

We call that an arraignment.

Okay. Yeah here the decision whether or not to prosecute is with the Crown Prosecution Service.

[Barrister]

We don't have grand juries, but we do have preliminary inquiries which have a somewhat similar purpose.  Do you have those in England?

What's a preliminary inquiry involve? We have preliminary hearings at the Magistrates. The defendant can plead guilty or get bail if not already on it. The Magistrates' Court then either assign the case to themselves (if it's summary, or either-way and that's the way the decision goes) or commit it to the Crown Court (if it's indictable or either-way and it goes there, or the defendant elects to go to the Crown Court).

It's funny to hear you talk, as we use many of the same words, but many different ones.

We have two levels of court - Provincial Court, and Court of Queen's Bench.  IF a matter is summary, or is hybrid and Crown has elected to go by summary conviction, then it goes straight to trial in provincial court.  If proceeded by indictment then defence can elect provincial court judge alone, QB judge alone or QB judge and jury.

If the defence election is QB, then they have the option of requesting a preliminary inquiry.  The preliminary inquiry is for the Crown to demonstrate there is sufficient evidence to warrant having a trial.  Quite frankly in this day and age of disclosure rights I think prelimns are largely a waste of time and money, but they continue to exist.


I should say the names of the courts will vary from province to province - I used Alberta names.  Ontario has General Division and Superior Division courts, while BC has Provincial Court and Supreme Court.

[Barrister]

We have preliminary hearings at the Magistrates. The defendant can plead guilty or get bail if not already on it. The Magistrates' Court then either assign the case to themselves (if it's summary, or either-way and that's the way the decision goes) or commit it to the Crown Court (if it's indictable or either-way and it goes there, or the defendant elects to go to the Crown Court).

We call that an arraignment.

An arraignment is merely the process by which someone is formally charged.  WE usually arraign an Accused right before his trial starts (if proceeded by indictment).

[Sheilbh]

My understanding is that the preliminary hearing here is some time before the trial gets pencilled in. So if the defendant pleads guilty then they get the full discount off their sentence, if they plead guilty at the start of the trial after all of the work and costs that have gone into it then the discount is greatly reduced.

[derspiess]

It's funny to hear you talk, as we use many of the same words, but many different ones.