The New Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure: II

Abstract

INDICTMENT AND INFORMATION The Grand Jury. In approximately half the States as well as in England use of the grand jury as an investigative body," and of grand jury indictment as a step in prosecution, has been largely abandoned. This old institution has, however, been retained in federal practice pretty much in the traditional common law form. The new Rules do not change this as, indeed, they could not in view of the constitutional guaranty that no federal prosecution for a "capital, or otherwise infamous" crime (in practice, any felony) shall be had save on "presentment or indictment" by a grand jury. The extensive use of federal grand juries for investigative purposes would, moreover, militate against any curtailment of their powers in this respect even if such action were within the Supreme Court's power to prescribe "rules of pleading, practice, and procedure." The place of grand juries in the federal apparatus of investigation-which includes legislative committees and administrative agencies similarly endowed with subpoena power, as well as prosecuting attorneys and police officers-is accordingly unaltered, and since most of the common federal offenses are felonies, the process of indictment will continue as a routine step in the initiation of most prosecutions.