OUJI-CR 12-1

GRAND JURY -- INTRODUCTORY INSTRUCTION

The purpose of these instructions is to outline your duties and what is expected of you during this grand jury investigation.

Under Article 2, Section 18, of the Oklahoma Constitution, a grand jury is convened by order of a District Judge after the filing of a proper Petition, as has been done in this case. [Name of Judge] has ordered the convening of this grand jury, and I have been appointed to conduct this grand jury. Your names were selected as provided by law. You have been summoned and impaneled and sworn to be a grand jury and to investigate the matters set forth in these instructions.

Now, you have been called by reason of the Grand Jury Petition, and that Grand Jury Petition requests that you investigate the following:

[Describe the Primary Purpose of the Investigation.]

However, you as grand jurors have the power to inquire into any matter to determine whether any crime or crimes have been committed, triable in [Name of County] County, for which indictments or accusations should be presented to the Court, as will be defined later in these instructions. To reiterate, however, the primary purpose for which you have been called is to [Again Describe the Primary Purpose of the Investigation]. You should make that your first order of business.

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Statutory Authority: 22 O.S. 1991, §§ 311-346.

Committee Comments

In 1932, the Criminal Court of Appeals of Oklahoma called the grand jury "a superfluous piece of legal machinery," because prosecutors normally conduct investigations and prosecutions without having to use grand juries. Blake v. State, 54 Okl. Cr. 62, 67, 14 P.2d 240, 242 (1932). Grand juries have been used for removal of public officers for many years, however, see 22 O.S. 1991, §§ 1181-1197, and multicounty grand juries have been authorized in Oklahoma since 1987, see 22 O.S. 1991, §§ 350-363.