scholarly journals Fifth Amendment: Substantial Exculpatory Evidence, Prosecutorial Misconduct and Grand Jury Proceedings: A Broadening of Prosecutorial Discretion

1993 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 718
Author(s):  
Gregory W. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Grand Jury ◽  
Prosecutorial Discretion ◽  
Fifth Amendment

Prosecutors’ Discretionary Use of the Grand Jury to Initiate or to Reinitiate Prosecution

1984 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet A. Gilboy
Keyword(s):  
Cook County ◽  
Grand Jury ◽  
Insufficient Evidence ◽  
Prosecutorial Discretion ◽  
Ethical Concerns

This study examines the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in two areas: the decision to initiate prosecution by indictment (in lieu of a preliminary hearing) and the decision to reinitiate prosecution by indictment after preliminary hearing discharge. To explore concerns about prosecutors’ use of the grand jury to pursue prosecution in cases with insufficient evidence to convict at trial, the author studied prosecutors’ practices in murder cases in Cook County, Illinois. To gather the information the author collected disposition data for prosecutions initiated by grand jury and by preliminary hearing, interviewed prosecutors, and examined prosecutors’ case documents indicating reasons for declining or pursuing prosecution of discharged cases. The data show similar conviction rates for prosecutions initiated by grand jury and those by preliminary hearing but a significantly lower rate for prosecutions reinitiated after discharge. Three reasons for the latter finding are discussed: special evidentiary characteristics of reinitiated cases, seriousness of the offense studied, and prosecutors’ special motivations and practices in serious cases. The author suggests that although prosecutors typically are constrained by practical, organizational, professional, and ethical concerns, they may in extraordinary situations reinitiate prosecution of weak cases. In light of the study's findings, the author assesses several proposals to eliminate or restrain prosecutors’ power to reinitiate.

The Implementation of the Proprio Motu Authority of the Prosecutor in Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manisuli Ssenyonjo
Keyword(s):  
Prosecutorial Discretion ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

The chapter argues that some of the criticism against the use of proprio motu powers is justified, particularly in respect of selectivity, given that other situations outside Africa were not investigated in equal manner. Equally, the evidence by which the Prosecutor initiated proprio motu prosecutions was generally weak and, despite some dissenting voices, it was never turned down by the ICC’s pre-trial chambers. This is particularly interesting if one considers that the situation in Kenya, at least, was politically charged. Although the chapter largely discusses the legal contours of the Prosecutor’s proprio motu powers and their application in the two African situations, it also assesses the impact of these prosecutions on local proceedings and the potential for suffocating the investigated nations’ relations with the ICC. To avoid similar conflicts in the future, the author argues that the politicization of prosecutorial discretion could be assessed by considering comparable situations in which the Prosecutor is not attempting to proceed.

Smartphones, contents of the mind, and the fifth amendment

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 28-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen B. Wicker
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Amendment ◽  
The Mind

One man grand jury in action

1944 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 292-294
Author(s):  
William P. Lovett
Keyword(s):  
Grand Jury
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