The Grand Jury and the Ham Sandwich

It is often said that a prosecutor can go to a grand jury and indict a ham sandwich if he or she wants.

It seems like an overused phrase, but it really isn't.

Prosectuors tell a grand jury that it is about justice and that those they might indict will still have the ability to defend their innocence in court.

But that's not really what it's about. It's about securing some indictment.

They pad on extra charges so that the grand jury will feel that by dropping some of them they are somehow being "fair."

Additional charges of perjury and obstruction are often tacked on.

They'll use multiple charges against a defendant in the hopes of securing a plea bargain because they know a defendant's financial situation and that the threat of destroying their finances and their families' futures might be enough to get a guilty plea.

And there is no Constitutional limit on how many times prosecutors can go back to the grand jury on the same charges against a defendant.

In Russia they send those convicted to a gulag. In North Korea they are shot. Here, defendants face a financial Sword of Damocles over their heads even before undergoing trials that wil last years.

I seriously doubt the framers of the Constitution thoughtthat this would be how "justice" would work in America.