than he knows Wilson was given a pass in his testimony.
Typically, the defendant is not cross-examined in an indictment. If the defendant is called and given use immunity, then most of the questions come from the grand jury.
I know this because I worked for the DA in law school. I worked in large part in preliminary hearings, the alternative to an indictment. The program where I worked for a year allowed law students to conduct preliminary hearings as certified legal representatives for the district attorney's office.
I then spent another year while in law school working for the DA appellate division. This group is not very well-known outside of those who practice criminal law. The DA appellate division handles appeals of misdemeanor convictions, usually on contract from city attorneys who do not have the resources to set up their own appellate department. The DA appellate division does not handle felony appeals because that is handled by the Attorney General's office. We handled appeals from cities like Bell, Ca., and Van Nuys, Ca., and on and on.
We also handled law-and-motion for the DA on felony prosecutions. This is where I learned a lot about the indictment process. Many of the hearings involved motions to suppress evidence (Cal. Penal Code, section 1538.5).
Since graduating from law school, I have handled criminal defense on a few occasions (less than 20). I have handled matters such as felony hit-and-run, DUI, and spousal abuse. Typically, I handled such cases for clients I had previously represented in non-criminal matters, mainly civil litigation. The clients were satisfied with my work on the civil matter, and despite my protests that I do not practice criminal law with any regularity, advised me that they were more comfortable with me handling their defense than a lawyer they did not know.
Therefore, I have worked for 2 years in law school for the DA, have run preliminary hearings, have worked in law-and-motion in criminal matters, and have tried a few criminal cases. In my work experience, I have seen the grand jury process take place. Your statement that the DA will cross-examine the defendant is kinda, sorta, on occasion true. Usually, however, the DA will not rely on the defendant's testimony for the indictment.
In law, we have a saying: If you are counting on the other side to make your case, you're ******.
After graduating law school (Law Review, 1988-1989), I worked civil litigation for the vast majority of my work. I now specialize in employment law.
I trust that answers your question, counselor.
