Finally - Some Movement in the Justice System

Just a quick update to let everyone know that there is finally some progress in the criminal case. The DA has decided that the final charge against the other driver will be manslaughter. The case will go in front of the grand jury on October 22. Since I know many of you have not had exposure to the criminal system (no, Law and Order doesn't count) I will explain. My apologies if you already know this.

The grand jury does not decide guilt or innocence, nor does the defendant present any defense. The grand jury hearing is basically round one of the bigger process. The grand jury is composed of normal people from the jury pool. The DA's office goes in front of this jury and presents the basics of their case, and asks for an indictment on the charge the DA feels the defendant is guilty of. If the grand jury agrees that there is enough evidence against the person that he should be indicted, they return what is called a "true bill." This basically means the charges will go forward and an actual criminal trial will be scheduled. It does not mean the person is guilty or will be found guilty - just that the DA has enough evidence to hold a trial.

Grand jury proceedings are closed to the public, so we cannot attend. The defendant is also not there the whole time, and cannot have a defense attorney present. One of the things that is different about a grand jury is that they can ask questions of the DA, of the defendant, and of witnesses. I am told that in this case the grand jury proceeding is a slam dunk and that there is no doubt that they will indict him.

I am happy that this has been scheduled, but frustrated at the system still. You may recall that about 5 weeks ago I wrote that I had talked to the DA's office and they had just gotten the case. They told me that the very earliest I could expect anything to progress was the end of September. I waited until yesterday, and then called them. I was told these things take time, you need to be patient, we have a ton of cases, yada, yada, yada. No one seemed to know the exact status of THIS case - they kept giving me generic answers about how the process works in general, but no one knew what the current state of this particular case was. They just kept saying it is in "intake." In a nice but firm way, with a few unintentional tears thrown in, I pitched a fit and talked to about four people. They all reassured me that it was not buried on someone's desk and that it was being "reviewed." I pushed and pushed until someone went and found the file and told me that it had been reviewed, and that the current state was that the DA was deciding what charge to bring to the grand jury. They told me that even after that was decided, I should expect it to be at least another two months before it would be ready to go to a grand jury, because the DA has to be sure first that the evidence is solid enough to support the charge. I requested updates every two weeks and they reluctantly agreed. Then lo and behold, at 9 a.m. today I get a call saying the charges are set and it has been scheduled. I think the case was never looked at at all until I made them go open the file, and that they then realized it is such a clear cut case they could go ahead and schedule. How much more "minimum evidence" do you need than a confession from the defendant, a police officer who witnessed the accident, and a mathematical reconstruction of the accident proving that the guy crossed into Kirk's lane while going in excess of 100 mph?

If I hadn't pushed I think the case would still be sitting there. How else do you explain them telling me it would take two more months, and then all of a sudden it's scheduled? At any rate, I'm learning what gets action and what doesn't.

I will know at the end of the day on Oct. 22 whether he's been indicted. I'll keep you posted.