Legal News

State Assembly considers having two grand juries in San Diego

By Jason Siegel

Los Angeles County is the only place in California allowed to have more than one grand jury. But San Diego might be next.

A State Assembly committee unanimously approved a bill that would allow San Diego Superior Court officials to impanel two grand juries at once, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The bill is being pushed by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in order to increase the number of public integrity cases and investigations heard and bring charges in complex cases with many defendants.

Prosecutors told the Tribune that cases are being tripped up as the grand jury in San Diego is booked, with usage up by 235 percent since 2004.

San Diego Superior Court supports the bill, while the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association and the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice opposes it. Critics argue that it would reduce transparency, allowing prosecutors to go forward with a trial, without having preliminary hearings as a check.

?The grand jury investigative process is a good way of finding things out confidentially and comprehensively,? former federal prosecutor Patrick O'Toole told the Tribune. ?But we are not talking about a radical change here of how we prosecute cases and bring charges.?

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on April 15, 2008 (boomark / email).