Time: Fri Jul 04 04:58:41 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id EAA25247; Fri, 4 Jul 1997 04:56:44 -0700 (MST) by usr06.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id EAA10875; Fri, 4 Jul 1997 04:56:36 -0700 (MST) Date: Fri, 04 Jul 1997 04:54:51 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Rocky Flats Grand Jury Speaks (fwd) <snip> > >Denver Post >July 2, 1997 >Email: letters@denverpost.com > > Grand jury could change much > > Many observers uneasy > > By Howard Pankratz > Denver Post Legal Affairs Writer > > July 2 - The grand jury that intensely probed wrongdoing at Rocky > Flats and now wants to take its findings public is pushing into > "uncharted" legal waters that could dramatically change the federal > grand jury system, experts said Tuesday. > > The jurors, who have for months asked for a closed hearing with a > federal judge, apparently will outline their investigation Wednesday > and Thursday behind closed doors. > > That "confidential, closed proceeding" - either with U.S. District > Judge Richard Matsch or U.S. Magistrate Patricia Coan - is > unprecedented. > > The jury investigated alleged environmental crimes at Rocky Flats for > 2 1/2 years and wanted to return indictments against several officials > of the Department of Energy and Rockwell International Corp., which > managed the plant. > > But the U.S. Justice Department accepted a plea bargain from > Rockwell, which paid an $18.5 million fine. > > The grand jurors have pushed ever since for a full airing of their > deliberations. > > If Matsch or Coan goes a step further and grants jurors' requests > that transcripts of the two-day hearing be released and they be > permitted to address Congress and the public, the federal grand jury > system may undergo profound change, said the experts. > > The historically airtight secrecy of grand juries could be a thing of > the past. Conceivably, grand jurors could end up writing books, just > like jurors in sensational civil and criminal trials, one expert said. > > "I think it would change the nature of the grand jury," said William > Pizzi, a former federal prosecutor in New Jersey and now a University > of Colorado law professor. "We might see books like 'Why We Didn't > Indict the President' ," he said. > > "I have enough trouble with trial jurors writing books - I think some > things should be protected. I don't know how Matsch could limit the > impact to this case," Pizzi said. > > Lawyer Jonathan Turley, who represents the grand jurors, has argued > in court documents that the public has a "great need to know" about > the jury's findings of misconduct at Rocky Flats. > > Most of the lawyers interviewed by The Denver Post believe in the > secrecy of the grand jury system - a veil that dates from the start of > grand juries in 11th century England. > > The lawyers believe that the secrecy protects those under > investigation, the investigation itself and the witnesses who testify. > > Grand juries often investigate rumors and other thin allegations > which may turn out to be untrue, they explained. > > At other times, as in the case of former Vice President Spiro Agnew, > the rumors may be true and lead to high places. > > Grand juries usually only hear the prosecution's side of a case. > > Several local lawyers said they don't expect Matsch, who has a > reputation for rigidly enforcing grand jury secrecy, to allow the > Rocky Flats jurors to go public. > > One lawyer, who asked that his name not be used, said the jurors may > actually have made a secret appeal to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of > Appeals after U.S. District Judge Sherman Finesilver refused earlier > requests to release their proposed indictments and report. > > The lawyer said the timing is right for such an appeal to have been > taken to the 10th Circuit. The resulting opinion could have directed > Matsch or some judge in the federal district court in Denver to hold > the closed hearing the jurors sought, the lawyer speculated. > > Bob Miller, a former U.S. attorney for Colorado, said he has never > seen anything like the Rocky Flats grand jury. > > "The whole situation is unusual," said Miller. "I've never quite > heard of anything like this before." Miller is a strong believer in > grand jury secrecy, saying "too many lives can be harmed" if the grand > jury's operation becomes public. > > "Innocent people are investigated and exonerated," said Miller. "If > the grand jury stuff got out, it would damage reputations." > > Bruce Black, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Denver, said he had > never heard of a grand jury "gaining this kind of notoriety and trying > to do something so out of the scope of the normal process." Only in > the "rarest of exceptions" is anything ever released from the actual > workings of the grand jury, Black noted. And there is absolutely > nothing in the rules surrounding grand juries that gives the public a > right to know what went on if certain criteria are met, he said. > > Under legal rules, the Rocky Flats grand jury was a "special" grand > jury, Black said. And under highly limited circumstances, such > "special" panels can make reports to judges. > > Those circumstances include cases of: > > Noncriminal misconduct, malfeasance or misfeasance in office involving > organized criminal activity by an appointed public officer or > employee. > > But Finesilver rejected the grand jury's report, saying it made > assertions of organized crime "that are unsupportable as a matter of > law and stray far afield from the special grand jury's charged and > sworn task." > > Black said that "it would be remarkable for that report to be made > public. What you have here is a situation where the jurors disagree > with the prosecution." > > "We are in an area that is totally uncharted," he said. > >Denver Post >1560 Broadway >Denver, CO 80202 >Phone: (303) 820-1010 >Fax: (303) 820-1369 >Email: letters@denverpost.com >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Re-distributed by the: > Jury Rights Project (jrights@welcomehome.org) > Background info.: http://www.execpc.com/~doreen > To be added to or removed from the JRP mailing list, > send email with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the title. > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.2 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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