Published: Thursday, February 26, 2015 6:52 AM PST
Sanger Herald Editor's note: This explanation of what a grand jury is and is not was first published May 28, 2009 when the grand jury issued a report critical of Sanger officials. We pulled it out of the archives, dusted it off and updated it for our April 5, 2012 edition when the grand jury came back to town and criticized Sanger officials again. When members of the grand jury showed up last week at the city council meeting we headed for the archives again. Three grand jury investigations in less than six years may be a new California record, maybe even a new national record. It's certainly not one to make us proud.
The grand jury is as old as the state constitution but it may be one of the least understood facets of the governmental system.
“The grand jury is an important part of the government that the public doesn’t know enough about,” said Fresno County Jury and Public Services Manager Sherry Spears.
The grand jury has two arms: one that works as a civil grand jury and is in session at all times, and one that works as a criminal grand jury that is only in session on a case-by-case basis.
The civil grand jury is often referred to as a “watchdog” for governmental agencies, retired Superior Court Judge Robert Oliver said.
“The grand jury is a constitutionally mandated body that investigates and reports on civil matters dealing with government in Fresno County,” Oliver said.
The grand jury is one avenue through which citizens can voice their concerns and hold their government in check.
Investigations and reports from the grand jury can impact the community in a positive way, Oliver said. The grand jury can influence how public funds are spent, prescribe how spending is documented, improve public service, save taxpayer dollars and hand out commendations to well-managed departments.
“The grand jury is the linkage between the citizens and their government,” said Robert Gutierrez, the chairman of promotion and publicity for the California Grand Jurors’ Association. “It’s the watchdog over governmental affairs. It makes the local government more effective and efficient. It’s an essential component of American politics.”
The civil grand jury consists of 19 Fresno County citizens who serve for one full year starting July 1 and ending June 30. During the year, jurors serve from 40 to 80 hours per month.
Once the grand jury is formed, the group divides into subcommittees according to subjects under investigation. For example, a committee may be dedicated to budget matters, or issues involving detention facilities.
One committee of the 2014-2015 grand jury has obviously been dedicated to investigating something having to do with municipal governance in Sanger.
The grand jury receives complaints and comments from the public, often through an online form that citizens can fill out and submit, and investigates accordingly. Investigations can also be initiated from an individual grand juror.
To conduct an investigation a subcommittee interviews involved parties and gathers information.
“They (grand jurors) are not told how to do it or guided in things that they should or shouldn’t look at,” Oliver said.
The grand jury is not accountable to elected officials or government employees and its recommendations and findings should be unbiased and impartial, Oliver said.
After a subcommittee conducts an investigation and writes a report with its findings and recommendations, the report must be adopted by the entire grand jury before it is released.
Once the grand jury releases a report, the agency or parties involved have 60 days to respond if a governmental agency or 90 days if a non-governmental group.
“The real power of the grand jury comes when they can release a report to the public,” jury and public services manager Spears said. “But sometimes just by investigating the changes may come about.”
Candidates for the grand jury can be nominated by a current grand jury member, by a judge or they can nominate themselves.
The Fresno Superior Court has started the recruitment process for the 19 persons who will make up the Fresno County Grand Jury from July 2015 through June 2016.
Grand jury applications are now available at www.fresno.courts.ca.gov or by calling the Fresno Superior Court juror services manager at (559) 457-1605. Applications will be accepted through March 2.
In order to be eligible for the grand jury applicants must: be a citizen of the United States; be 18 years of age or older; be a resident of Fresno County for at least one year prior to selection; be in possession of natural faculties, ordinary intelligence, sound judgment, fair character; have sufficient knowledge of the English language.
Desirable qualities for grand jury applicants include: research abilities; ability to analyze facts; respect and objectivity concerning the opinions of others; ability to work cooperatively with others; ability to express oneself clearly; experience in report writing; basic computer literacy, according to the Fresno County grand jury website.
Spears sets up interviews for each qualified applicant with a committee of superior court judges. The superior court judges decide on a group of 30 nominees to be placed into a random drawing and 19 are pulled to be members of the grand jury.
Grand jurors serve a one-year period with the option to apply for an additional consecutive term.
Because they devote up to 80 hours each month to grand jury business, they receive nominal compensation as well as mileage reimbursement.
The civil grand juries and the criminal grand juries do not overlap, Oliver said.
The two work separately and never in tandem, but the civil grand jury could issue a report that would interest the district attorney to the point he files charges or seeks a criminal indictment.
A criminal grand jury only goes into session when the district attorney or the state Attorney General’s office seeks an indictment for a particular case. An indictment is a formal, written charge.
Once the request for an indictment is made, a criminal grand jury is selected just as a traditional jury would be. The grand jury decides to either issue the indictment or deny it based on whether or not the jury believes there is cause to make the charge.
Most of the criminal grand jury cases in California are either high profile or involve some special circumstance where the traditional means of filing charges is bypassed, said USC law professor Rebecca Lonergan.
“They avoid being political by being backed by a grand jury to issue an indictment,” Lonergan said.
A district attorney might choose to avoid the politics of a given case, possibly one involving corruption or an important community figure, by seeking an indictment rather than trying to file for charges in the traditional way.
For example, grand juries in other jurisdictions have considered hot-potato cases like whether to indict a homeowner who shoots and kills someone he thinks is breaking into his home.
By Vanessa Rakis-Garabedian
Sanger Herald
Sanger Herald
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