Grand Jurors Sue for OK to Talk About Texas Supreme Court Justice's Case
In a highly unusual move, six members of a 12-person grand jury that indicted a Texas Supreme Court justice are suing the county prosecutor and the state for permission to talk about the evidence they considered in the controversial case.
Ordinarily, grand jury proceedings are secret. But the grand jurors believe they should be able to talk about the evidence that persuaded them to indict Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife concerning a fire at their home, in order to defend themselves from public attack, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“The other members of the grand jury felt that our grand jury had been abused and insulted by both the district attorney’s office and the defense attorneys in the case,” says Jeffrey Dorrell, an attorney who served as assistant foreman and filed the case on behalf of himself and five others. “We took our duties seriously and discharged our oath and our reward was to be insulted and attacked.”
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the grand jury charged Medina with evidence tampering and his wife with arson, against the recommendation of prosecutors. Subsequently, a judge ruled that the indictments were invalid on procedural grounds.
Dorrell has filed a declaratory judgment action against Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal and the state of Texas. It seeks a Harris County District Court ruling that members of the grand jury are privileged to discuss publicly the evidence they considered in the Medina case, and will not be prosecuted for doing so.
Dorrell cites a 1928 case in which a grand jury was allowed to speak out as precedent for his filing. But a prosecutor says allowing the grand jurors to speak out would interfere with the ongoing Medina case, according to KTRK, a local ABC affiliate.
“The assistant DA who handled the case told us that he will take the case back to a grand jury sometime in the next six months,” the station writes on its website. “And added he does not believe the grand jurors should be able to speak out on their own.”
