# How difficult is it in the U.S. to challenge a grand jury bill of indictment?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-it-in-the-u-s-to-challenge-a-grand-jury-bill-of-indictment/502402>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 9, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-it-in-the-u-s-to-challenge-a-grand-jury-bill-of-indictment/502402 "2009-07-09T03:11:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-it-in-the-u-s-to-challenge-a-grand-jury-bill-of-indictment/502402/1 "2009-07-09T03:11:48Z")

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Remember the two yahoos who were picked up last fall on charges of wanting to go on a white supremacist murder rampage of blacks, culminating in a suicide attack on Barack Obama while wearing white tuxedos?

They’ve been indicted by a federal grand jury, but their lawyers are challenging the indictment, on two different grounds: that the racial composition was unbalanced (too many black folks, not enough white folks), and that the individual members of the grand jury were not impartial.

See this recent article: [Lawyers for men accused in Obama plot seek more time](http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20090708/NEWS01/907080306/1002/Lawyers+for+men+accused+in+Obama+plot+seek+more+time).

My question: how likley is it that either of these challenges will succeed? Is it very difficult to challenge a grand jury’s decision in the U.S. system? (We no longer have grand juries in Canada, so all I know about them is what I’ve seen Jack McCoy do :dubious: )

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-it-in-the-u-s-to-challenge-a-grand-jury-bill-of-indictment/502402/2 "2009-07-09T04:14:10Z")

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Assuming these are federal charges- which they seem to be- [not that hard](http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/Rule6.htm), although I can’t find number on the success rate of motions to set aside or dismiss an indictment.

The irony of white suspects complaining about a jury with too many black people on it is delicious.

Also, the first guy looks like Sinead O’Connor.