Referring a case to Grand Jury

NJ; My son was arrested in February and charged with possession with intent to distribute. He is an adult. After numerous court dates that were all postponed, he went to court this morning and the prosecutor said that he was referring the case to a grand jury. Why after all of these months would this suddenly happen? Does anybody know?

It means they think they have enough of a case to get an indictment handed down. Hopefully he has a lawyer lined up.

A grand jury simply decides if there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial, not if the defendant is guilty or innocent.

Thanks for the responses. Yes, my son has a lawyer already. I just thought it was odd that after all of these months, they are now referring it.

scoobie6577 said:

Thanks for the responses. Yes, my son has a lawyer already. I just thought it was odd that after all of these months, they are now referring it.

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Not odd at all. The police and prosecutors are busy and putting together a case takes time.