FRom the Florida Bar Association:
In practice, the prosecuting attorney selects those cases he believes warrant prosecution. The prosecutor then determines whether to proceed by indictment or information. If the prosecutor is required to or chooses to seek an indictment, he then presents his case to a grand jury by interrogating the witnesses he has subpoenaed and presenting other evidence relevant to the alleged offense. The grand jurors themselves also may question witnesses and request additional witnesses or evidence. After that evidence is presented to the grand jury, it decides whether there is probable cause to indict the accused. The accused is not given the opportunity to present evidence in his defense or cross-examine witnesses at the grand jury phase. If the accused is subpoenaed to testify before a state grand jury, that testimony cannot be used against him at trial.
Persons appearing under subpoena before a grand jury are absolutely privileged from liability for libel and slander in conjunction with testimony given before the grand jury. Grand jury witnesses, however, are subject to conviction for the crime of perjury
Florida Statutes Section 905.27(2007) prohibits grand jurors, state attorneys and all other court personnel from disclosing to anyone, except under certain narrowly-specified circumstances, the testimony of a witness examined before the grand jury or other evidence received by it. The statute declares it unlawful:
for any person knowingly to publish, broadcast, disclose, divulge, or communicate to any other person, . . . in any manner whatsoever, any testimony of a witness examined before the grand jury, or the content, gist, or import thereof, except when such testimony is or has been disclosed in a court proceeding.
Reporters also are free to observe the coming and going of witnesses into the grand jury room. Normally, the state attorney, who guides, counsels and strongly influences the conduct of the grand jury, announces, in general terms, the subject of the grand jury inquiry. Often leaks occur and the diligent reporter may gather information from sources close to the grand jury, the grand jury's target and the court's files themselves
