Grand Jury v. Preliminary Hearing

To guarantee the case goes forward. To prevent their witnesses from being cross examined. Because they can.

The State can choose to charge someone by a grand Jury (indictment) or after a preliminary hearing (information). Once a person is charged, the rest of the case proceeds the same regardless of how they were charged.

Any number of reasons. The law leaves that choice entirely to the State. Two factors are always present. First, the prosecutor has somewhat more control of the outcome at a grand jury proceeding, to get either an indictment or a "no bill" as may be desired (and yes, sometimes the prosecutor takes a case to the grand jury in the hope that an indictment will be refused). Second, witnesses at a preliminary hearing before a judge, unlike witnesses before a grand jury, are subject to cross-examination by defense counsel. In general, I agree with all of my colleagues who have responded to your question.

In talking with prosecutor friends they often go with grand jury because they can schedule one cop to come do all his cases at one time rather than have him show up for 3 or 4 separate court dates that may get continued etc. It cuts down on overtime expenses for the police departments.

I agree with most of the other answers. In more serious cases, homicides, sexual assaults, etc. the State doesn't want to risk a witness saying the wrong thing at preliminary hearing that could hurt their case. Also, in the grand Jury, the State has complete control, no cross examination and all they need is for the grand jury to vote a true bill which they almost always do. Sometimes the State will go to the grand Jury with a witness that they are worried could be a problem when it comes to trial, which oftentimes happens in Gang related cases. They want to "lock in" their testimony under oath so if they decide to change their story, the grand jury testimony could be used.

The prosecution may opt for a grand Jury to bypass the preliminary hearing and to ensure the advance of the case to the trial stage without opening too many cards to the defense as permitted by this tactical legal process.