Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Stuart A. MacCorkle
Professor of Government and
Director of the Institute of Public Afairs
ORIGIN .......................................................
CONSIDERATION OF PUNISHMENT
ORIGIN
rn
THE TEXAS GRAND JURY
11
V.C.C.P., Art. 339.
12
Constitution of the State of Texas, Art. XVI, sec. 19. A male indicted by
an all-male grand jury may not avail himself of this provision to challenge
the legality of his indictment, but it is possible that a woman indicted by an
all-male grand jury might be allowed to do so. Schwarz v. State, 357 S.W.
2d393 (Grim. App. 1962).
These qualifications represent the bare letter of the law
It is the jury commission's responsibility to abide by the spiril
of the law by selecting able and distinguished citizens in the
community to compose the grand jury.
The first twelve persons in the list of sixteen to qualify are
sworn in as grand jurors, as a legally constituted grand jury
must consist of this number. Twelve persons are also re-
quired for a criminal trial jury. Precisely why the accepted
number is twelve on the traditional jury is not known. The
origin, as the 17th century English jurist Sir Edward Coke
said, is shrouded in an "abundance of mystery."13
15
V.C.C.P., Art. 361.
16
V.C.C.P., Art. 362.
" Arnold v. State, 148 Tex. Grim. Rep. 310, 186 S.W. 2d 995, 158 A.L.R.
1356 (Grim. App. 1945). 18 Black's Law Dictionary, p. 81.
rioi
THE TEXAS GRAND JURY
[HI
THE TEXAS GRAND JURY
SCOPE OF INQUIRY
grand jury will either vote a true bill, return a no bill, or pass
the case. A true bill means that the jury is returning an in-
dictment in the case. Nine members must concur before a true
bill may be returned.22 If the jury decides not to indict, it re-
turns a no bill. It is within the jury's discretion to decide how
many members must concur to return a no bill. The custom
in many counties in Texas is to require nine votes for this ac-
tion. If nine members cannot agree upon either a true bill or a
no bill, or if the jury is not presented with enough facts, it is
the custom to pass or carry forward the case, either to a later
meeting or to the next grand jury.
[13]
THE TEXAS GKAND JURY
EVIDENCE REQUIRED
It has been said that the grand jury is not intended to per-
form the function of the trial jury and determine the guilt of
the accused; however, it does have the duty of ascertaining if
a crime has been committed and if there is sufficient legal evi-
dence upon which a trial jury could convict the accused in a
specific case. Accused persons should not be indicted simply
because they were present where a crime was committed. The
evidence must show that each accused aided and assisted
CONSIDERATION OF PUNISHMENT
* 3 Bowen v. State, 47 Tex. Crim. Rep. 137, 82 S.W. 520 (Crim. App. 1904).
34
Ex parte Carol Jean Joseph, 356 S.W. 2d 791 (Crim. App. 1962).
35
Ex parte Higgins, 71 Tex. Crim. Rep. 618, 160 S.W. 696 (Crim. App.
1913).
[19]
THE TEXAS GRAND JURY
31
J. Hadley Edgar, Jr., "Propriety of the Grand Jury Report," Texas Law
Review,34 (May, 1956) 749-50.
[21]
THE TEXAS GRAND JUHY
[22]