Grand Jury Essay

Words: 794
Pages: 4

*The aspects of a Grand Jury will be discussed in the context of North Carolina law.
A grand jury is selected randomly (with names being drawn from a container) by a court clerk. Eighteen people are selected. Nine serve during the first session of court during county criminal cases from January 1st to July 1st; when the next nine people take over. Terms are between 2-15 months. Jurors are sworn and can be discharged by the presiding judge for various reasons.
Grand juries convene after the district attorney, his designated assistant, or a special prosecutor files a written petition after the approval of a committee. The chief judge appoints a panel of three judges to determine whether or to convene the grand jury. They evaluate the
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Slager, only one murder charge is available. Under South Carolina law, “unlawful killing with malice aforethought” requires only a few seconds of premeditation. There are many reasons to present to the Grand Jury this charge for a true bill. The recording of the incident made by a bystander shows Walter Scott attempting to flee from Slanger during a traffic stop. While Scott was running away, Slanger raised his gun and shot Scott, who was unarmed. Slanger was not facing an imminent threat during this incident, and is not allowed to shoot someone simply for running away, even if they had committed a felony. (The fleeing felon rule was struck down in Tennessee v. Garner in 1986 by the U.S. Supreme …show more content…
South Carolina law requires that a person convicted of murder be punished by death or a mandatory minimum of thirty years to life in prison. Mitigating and aggravating circumstances will be considered. One aggravating factor would be that the murder took place in a public place with a weapon, creating a great risk of death to more than one person. The mitigating circumstances may include that the defendant has no criminal convictions that involve violence or that the defendant was under the influence of mental emotional disturbance (investigation will establish or disprove