How Federal Courts Enforce Grand Jury Subpoena Requests.

If you receive a federal grand jury subpoena, that means that you or someone you know or were affiliated with is the target of a federal criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. In order for someone to be indicted, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution mandates the use of a grand jury for all capital and infamous crimes. In practice, all federal felonies must be indicted by a grand jury unless a defendant waives the right and instead pleads to a so-called "Information."

Understanding Federal Grand Juries

Federal grand juries in the United States are comprised of citizens who are chosen by the courts. The process of choosing a grand jury is somewhat similar to the process of picking a petit or trial jury. However, grand juries normally sit for an extended period of time and review numerous cases compared to a petit jury that sits for the duration of a single trial. Grand jury secrecy is important.Grand juries also have the power to issue a subpoena for documents and grand jury witness testimony that will help it evaluate the case. These subpoenas are issued at the request of the government. The subpoenaed materials are then returned to the grand jury in order to further its investigation.There are hundreds of grand juries throughout the United States. Some federal districts have more than one sitting at one time while smaller districts will employ only one. Grand juries meet on a schedule that is determined by the district in which it sits. Some may meet every two weeks or every month depending on the criminal case-load that exists in their particular district. The jury can hear numerous cases in one day and at the end of the session will vote to either approve the indictment (True Bill) or disapprove of the indictment (No Bill). If a True Bill is returned they have determined that probable cause exists to believe that the stated crime has been committed. At this point the individual(s) named in the indictment are officially charged with a crime.

Types of Grand Jury Subpoenas

When conducting grand jury investigations, the U.S. Attorney's Office has a number of investigative tools at its disposal. One of these tools is the grand jury subpoena. Despite its name, this type of subpoena is issued by the U.S. Attorney 's Office - not the grand jury - and the U.S. Attorney's Office has the power to issue these subpoenas without the need for judicial approval.There are two kinds of subpoenas from a grand jury: