Opinion ID: 3031870
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Improperly Limiting Grand Jurors to Probable

Text: Cause Determination The instructions begin by telling the grand jurors that what would follow outlines their responsibilities. This prefatory emphasis is significant because the instructions go on to explain that “the purpose of the Grand Jury is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a formal accusation against a person.” A grand juror paying close attention would conclude that the purpose of the grand jury is singular and that its discretion is constrained by the instruction. This impression is confirmed again later in the charge: “Your task is to determine whether the government’s eviUNITED STATES v. NAVARRO-VARGAS 5561 dence as presented to you is sufficient to cause you to conclude that there is probable cause.” Once again, the instruction defines the purpose, or “task,” singularly, and even the majority concedes that “the terms ‘purpose’ and ‘task’ are singular, conveying that the jury has a unique purpose.” Once again, the unique purpose conveyed is determining probable cause. The instruction seems to compel the grand jury to indict as long as probable cause exists: “[Y]ou should vote to indict where the evidence presented to you is sufficiently strong to warrant a reasonable person’s believing that the accused is probably guilty of the offense with which the accused is charged.” The majority discounts the admonishment “should,” arguing that it is distinct from “must” or “shall.” Even “[a]s a matter of pure semantics,” the majority is incorrect to say that the use of the word “should” preserves the grand jury’s discretion. The word “should” is used “to express a duty [or] obligation.” THE OXFORD AMERICAN DICTION AND LANGUAGE GUIDE 931 (1999); see also MERRIAM-WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 1085 (10th ed. 1998) (“used in auxiliary function to express obligation, propriety, or expediency”); THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1670 (3d ed. 1992) (“Used to express obligation or duty”); Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=should (“Used to express obligation or duty”) (last checked Apr. 5, 2005). The “should” and “shall” distinction is a lawyer’s distinction, not a difference most lay people sitting as grand jurors would be likely to understand. The instruction’s use of the word “should” is most likely to be understood as imposing an inflexible “duty or obligation” on grand jurors, and thus to circumscribe the grand jury’s constitutional independence. This “should” admonishment is at odds with the grand jury’s broad independent role. As the Supreme Court held in Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254, 263 (1986), “[t]he grand jury does not determine only that probable cause exists to 5562 UNITED STATES v. NAVARRO-VARGAS believe that a defendant committed a crime, or that it does not.” (emphasis added). The grand jury’s defining feature is its independence. The Fifth Amendment deliberately inserts a group of citizens between the government’s desire to bring serious criminal charges and its ability to actually do so. “It is a constitutional fixture in its own right[,] . . . belong[ing] to no branch of the institutional Government, serving as a kind of buffer or referee between the Government and the people.” United States v. Williams, 504 U.S. 36, 47 (1992) (internal citations omitted). Indeed, “the Fifth Amendment’s ‘constitutional guarantee presupposes an investigative body acting independently of either [the] prosecuting attorney or judge.’ ” Id. at 49 (quoting United States v. Dionisio, 410 U.S. 1, 16 (1973)) (emphasis in original; internal quotations omitted). The history of the adoption of the grand jury requirement in the Bill of Rights underscores its independent role,3 and its independence was noted by courts at the founding of the Republic. See United States v. Smith, 27 F. Cas. 1186, 1188 (C.C.D.N.Y. 1806) (No. 16341A) (“Grand juries are the offspring of free government; they are a protection against illfounded accusations.”).