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There is usually a grand jury "sitting" all the time, and yes, prosecutors do bring evidence before them quickly. There are statutory time limits between arrest and indictment, and if the indictment doesn't come, the suspect must be released.

The timing between incident and indictment is generally a factor of sufficiency of evidence. If there isn't much evidence, then there is delay.

I understand that if a man robs a store and kills someone, and is arrested on the way out...that there is not much left to do other than file charges and begin a trial.

But there hasn’t even been an arrest in this case, right?

Its going to be a case of determining whether or not the cop followed police procedure and was justified in his actions. To a large degree I believe it will hinge on the direction of the bullet holes, eye witness testimony, and the presence/absence of Brown’s DNA on the cop’s gun.

So, as an example, if 2 months from now the DNA tests come back and show Brown’s DNA on the gun....there should be no charges filed. Its an open and shut case, and the cop is justified. So why on earth file charges now?

What is the hurry?

I think the answer is the mob. And I suspect in a ‘normal’ case, they would wait for the evidence to be processed. Its a murder case, and no arrest has been made - nothing is going to expire.

And from what I know of Grand Juries, they may always be ‘sitting’, but they don’t go to an office every day to hear a case. Generally they meet once a month and have a marathon session. This consumes the prosecutor’s time too, and they can’t be continuously ‘in session’. So I suspect either a special grand jury would be called or the sitting one would have to be called into special session...special circumstances foe no other reason than to satisfy a mob.