Court backs grand jury against Woodlake police

Posted at 10:33 PM on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011
By Lewis Griswold / The Fresno Bee
Woodlake police should have been ordered to answer a Tulare County grand jury subpoena seeking a police report of a shooting-range mishap, the Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled.
The ruling, issued earlier this month, reverses a decision by Tulare County Superior Court Judge Lloyd Hicks rejecting the subpoena that sought the Woodlake Police Department's internal investigation.
However, the ruling may be moot because the grand jury issued its final report on the incident more than a year ago.
The Tulare County District Attorney's Office, which advised the grand jury in the subpoena, declined to say whether the matter will be pursued further. Grand jury proceedings are secret, Tulare County District Attorney Shani Jenkins said Thursday.
Woodlake city attorney Tom Watson said it's a dead issue, but the ruling clarifies a point of law.

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"We got a clear guideline on how to deal with these things in the future," Watson said.
The legal back and forth stems from an incident in January 2009 when Leland Perryman of Exeter, who lives near the shooting range, was on a walk about a mile away and got hit.
The bullet came within half an inch of his heart, punctured a lung and broke at least one rib, he said.
"I'm kind of glad to see this [the appellate ruling]," he said. Perryman said he suspects the internal report, which the grand jury sought through its subpoena, has details that have not been made public.
Hicks quashed the subpoena on grounds that the grand jury was engaged in a civil proceeding, which required an affidavit showing "good cause" for needing the information.
But the higher court said a grand jury investigation is not a civil proceeding, so the affidavit wasn't required. Woodlake Police Chief John Zapalac said the department no longer uses the range.


http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/08/11/2496652/court-of-appeal-backs-grand-jury.html