You don't request a hearing before a Grand Jury. As a matter of fact, you don't even attend your own hearing. If you are arrested, your case will automatically be presented to a Grand Jury for them to consider if they will charge you with the crime or not.
They answer questions put to them by the prosecutor in charge of the grand jury and occasionally, answer questions from members of the grand jury itself.
Depending on the state you are in (some use the Grand Jury System and others use the Preliminary Hearing system) it is the hearing at which the defendant is formally charged with the offense he was arrested for.
If the jurisdiction in question adheres to the Grand Jury system of indictment, the GJ will indict by handing down a "true bill" in the sequence in which it was presented to them. HOWEVER - if the jurisdictions NOT utilizing a Grand Jury system, your Preliminary Hearing IS your idndictiment and the presiding judge decides if there is enough Probable Cause to bind you over for trial.
Yes. Grand Jury.
Before a formal criminal trial may take place, the prosecution must either file a Bill of Information, or have the defendant indicted by a Grand Jury. The defendant has no right to confront witnesses at the Grand Jury hearing and the standard of proof to indict for trial is by a preponderance of evidence, or "more likely than not".
No not ever.
The grand jury does not convict anyone of anything. The grand jury hears the evidence presented by the prosecutor. If the grand jury thinks the prosecutor has adequate evidence, then the grand jury indicts that person. A trial will then be held before a petite jury, or small jury. It is that jury that determines if someone will get the death penalty.
A grand jury indictment is a charge issued by a grand jury in a criminal case. Typically, the jury determines whether enough evidence exists to formally charge the suspect with a criminal crime. Grand jury indictments are not dismissed by the court but in a formal hearing, a defense team can argue against any bias.
A Grand Jury only hears witnesses brought forth by the prosecutor. The defense attorney(s) and defendant(s) are not present at the hearing. Witnesses are not allowed to have their attorney present, but may excuse themselves to confer with legal counsel outside of the hearing/court room.
A 'preliminary hearing.' aka. a probable cause hearing.
It is an indictment issued by a Grand Jury after the defendant has already had an initial appearance in his case, and the case has been set for a preliminary hearing before court. However, in the meantime the State has indicted the defendant by grand jury proceedings. This 'supervening' action by the Grand Jury indicts the defendant and has the effect of rendering all previous court actions in the defendant's case null and void.
In jurisdictions where they still exist, the answer to the question is a Grand Jury.In states which no longer (or never did) have a grand jury system, a court heraring (known as a probable cause hearing) is held where the Prosecutor's Office presents the cause for PC to a judge.