grand jury

From Middle English graunde jurie, from Anglo-Norman graund juree. Named because it typically has more jurors than the petit jury.

grand jury (plural grand juries)

1. (law) A group of citizens assembled by the government to hear evidence against an accused, and determine whether an indictment for a crime should be brought.
   • 2014 December 19, Paul M Farber, “Die-ins demand that we bear witness to black people's fears that they'll be next”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Though the current wave of die-ins began after grand juries in Ferguson and New York City refused to indict the cops who used lethal force against Michael Brown and Eric Garner, they tap into a deep well of what professor Salamishah Tillet calls “civic estrangement” from a state that ignores excessive police violence against black and brown people.

   • 2025 July 26, Victoria Bekiempis, “Trump bids to release Epstein grand jury files – what secrets might they hold?”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Justice department attorneys quickly filed paperwork in Manhattan and south Florida federal courts requesting unsealing of grand jury testimony for Epstein. […] A grand jury is a panel that decides whether evidence presented by prosecutors shows “probable cause” that someone committed a crime, and whether they should be tried. Should the grand jury, which is not the trial jury, find that there is sufficient evidence, an indictment will be issued.

2. (law) The legal process that uses such a jury.

• petit jury
• jury trial