A grand jury decides whether there is enough evidence to try a suspected criminal in court. If there is enough evidence, a “true bill” is issued, and if not, a “no bill” is issued. Critics argue that grand juries can be abused by prosecutors.
“No invoice” is a legal term that means a grand jury has decided that there is not enough evidence to try a suspected criminal in court. Some jurisdictions use a grand jury to determine whether a suspect should face a criminal trial. A grand jury is a group of people randomly selected from the community. If a grand jury decides there is enough evidence, it issues a “real bill” that a suspect faces criminal trial.
Historically, laymen could prosecute anyone in the community. The function of the grand jury was to protect against malicious prosecution. In theory, a grand jury should still protect against improper prosecution. Critics, however, say grand juries only serve as a rubber stamp for prosecutors because grand jury members do not fully understand their role and are overly dependent on the evidence presented to them by the prosecutor.
Under a grand jury system, a prosecutor issues a document called an indictment that identifies a suspect and the crimes the suspect is accused of. The prosecutor delivers the indictment to the grand jury. Then present witnesses and other evidence. If the grand jury determines that the evidence warrants trial of a criminal suspect, it writes the phrase “true bill” on the indictment. This is, in effect, an endorsement of the prosecutor’s charges against the suspect. A grand jury writes “no bill” on the indictment when he decides there isn’t enough evidence to bring a case against the suspect.
Previously, a grand jury would write the Latin phrase ignoramus on the indictment, meaning “we are ignorant.” When a grand jury used the term ignoramus, it meant that the evidence presented did not appear to be true. Now, grand juries commonly use the terms “no invoice,” “not found,” or “not a real invoice.” Ultimately, the sentences have the same meaning.
Even if a grand jury does not issue a bill on an indictment, the prosecutor may resubmit an indictment to the same grand jury or to a new one. In other words, a prosecutor can keep bringing an indictment to a grand jury until he gets the result he wants. Some jurisdictions restrict prosecutors by not allowing them to re-submit an indictment more than twice. Other jurisdictions require prosecutors to obtain court approval before resubmitting an indictment to a grand jury. This is why some critics argue that prosecutors can abuse the grand jury system.
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