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Originally Posted by paulskinsfan
Guys, I really don't want to waste everyone's time on this non-Redskin issue. After looking in the Criminal Procedure Manual, it states that slightly more than half the states use a Grand Jury System for all felonies. In fact, it is in West Virginia's freakin constitution which states:
"No person shall be held to answer for treason, felony or other crime, not cognizable by a justice, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury."
See Article 3, section 4 of the WVA Constitution.
Now I am originally from VA, and I believe that is the law there as well, although I haven't practiced criminal law there. Now, if its used in roughly half the states, then its not used in roughly half the states. Florida may very well not use the Grand Jury on all felonies, but WVA and many other states do. If you wanna debate criminal law, Im all over it. So now, you admit you were wrong PSU SkinsFan21. It may not be the law in FLA, but it is the law in half the country.
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Well, like I said:
"To say that "every single felony charge, is decided upon by a grand jury" is just flat wrong in any jurisdiction I've seen. There is no constitutional right to a grand jury and I'm aware of no state that requires the prosecution to submit a case to the grand jury before filing charges and proceeding with prosecution."
I don think I'm actually wrong if you look at what I said. I said I wasn't aware of any jurisdiction in which grand jury testimony was required. Now I am.
There still is no U.S. Constitutional right to have the case submitted to the grand jury.
And while I was aware of no state that requires the prosecution submit the case to the grand jury when I drafted that message, now I am.
So you see, in the states in which I've practiced, submitting the case to a grand jury is NOT REQUIRED. In states you've practiced in, it is. So I guess we are both right.
However, you're general statements to Ramseyfan was that he was "wrong" because every felony gets submitted to a grand jury, without qualification. If you're willing to admit that you shouldn't have assumed the law of WV applied to all states (which is the only way Ramseyfan would be "wrong" here), then I'll admit that you educated me on WV law. Again though, next time I'd suggest stating that Ramseyfan would be wrong under WV law. In fact, Ramseyfan is right in certain jurisdictions.