The way the grand jury and indictments
work, is this: the prosecutor or the commonwealth's attorney, present
a case to 12 local citizens, who make up the grand jury, and then
those 12 local citizens determine if a felony was committed or not.
It's all behind closed doors, and the public isn't allowed to attend,
or see what's presented, or what's discussed. Just the outcome of it.
Grand juries are supposedly to be
democratic, and used as a firewall against frivolous felony cases,
but even grand juries can issue frivolous indictments hence the
saying “even a ham sandwich can be indicted”. Grand juries are
also not supposed to be swayed by the prosecutor presenting the case.
The prosecutor presents the case in a non-biased manner, and then the
12 grand jurors make their determination. But unfortunately, that's
not what usually happens. Usually, the prosecutor forces their will
on the grand jurors and get whatever outcome they seek, even though
it's not legal to do so.
What I find odd about grand juries is
that they are not necessary to arrest, jail, and charge somebody for
a felony murder. If a citizen is suspected of murdering another
person, a police officer, any police officer who has jurisdiction in
that area, can arrest the person suspected of murder, jail them, and
charge them with a crime. If the charge is a felony, it may have to
be okay'd by the grand jury at that point, but there's ways to
finagle the grand jury process. It would be easier to get an
indictment from the grand jury if the person they are talking about
is wearing an orange jump suit, and is in handcuffs. Perception is
power and that's why they have perp walks.
So any police officer could arrest a
murderer. Bobby Joe Smith is the Constable of District 4 of Laurel
County, which gives him the same power as a Sheriff in that district,
District 4 of Laurel County, but only in that district. Sheriff John
Root and all of his deputies, any of the county police officers, and
the state police can all arrest Bobby Joe Smith, if they believed he
was guilty of murder. Individual citizens could arrest Bobby Joe
Smith as well, a citizen's arrest, but that could be a dangerous
undertaking.
The US Attorney's office could do
something too, issue a warrant, as could a local District or Circuit
Judge. In Breckinridge County, just a complaint was necessary for a
warrant to be issued. Shan Embry, a district judge, has issued
warrants from just a complaint, without any evidence whatsoever.
Because of nepotism. Because it was her buddy who issued the
complaint. And I wonder what the warrant against Brandon Stanley is
all about. Grand juries and regular juries can also formed by
nepotism too.
And if all else fails, a wrongful death
civil lawsuit can be filed by the family, the one who is responsible
for Brandon Stanley's estate... the next of kin... his wife, his
parents, or his children, or whoever is next in line as his next of
kin.
Comments
Post a Comment