Comments on: Some questions about Fitzgerald's grand jury

Question: Some questions about Fitzgerald's grand jury

Gyan — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:20:35 -0800

So there's a grand jury that the special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has empaneled. 23 members, residents of Wahington D.C. Some questions.

Are they anonymous?
Sequestered?
Paid?
How are they chosen, by jury duty draw?
Will they be subject to a gag order after their term expires?

By: Laen

Laen — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:31:30 -0800

If you don't mind me adding to your question:

Rumor mill says "1-5 indictments". Does 5 indictments mean 5 people, or just multiple charges?

By: alms

alms — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:32:17 -0800

5 means 5 people.

By: trey

trey — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:32:25 -0800

I am wondering about the sequestering as well. I would have to believe that these people are subject to tremendous pressures from all sides. And they only meet twice a week!

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 18:10:44 -0800

The NY District Court website has their Federal Grand Juror handbook (PDF). It answers some of the general questions.

By: mcwetboy

mcwetboy — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 18:50:14 -0800

From the Federal Grand Jury site:

See also the ABA's grand jury FAQ. (Both links stolen from the Wikipedia entry.)

By: michaelkuznet

michaelkuznet — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 20:31:24 -0800

A funny about mcwetboy's first bullet point link: the pictures of "two groups" of people is actually a picture of one group of people cut in half. Look for the giveaway lime-green sleeve, notebook position, etc.

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:54:25 -0800

On NBC Nightly News this evening they said that the "PlameGate" grand jury consists of 12 people -- and that there must be a quorum (which I take to mean a 2/3^rds. majority -- any lawyers out there who can substantiate my (mis)understanding?) in order to bring any indictments. I suspect that any others who are cited as on the jury are "alternates."

By: dhartung

dhartung — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 00:47:38 -0800

ericb: The quorum on a Federal grand jury is 16. I would believe it is highly unlikely that Fitzgerald is in any danger of not meeting the quorum requirement. NBC is probably just plain wrong.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:38:02 -0800

that there must be a quorum (which I take to mean a 2/3rds. majority -- any lawyers out there who can substantiate my (mis)understanding?) in order to bring any indictments.

Yes, but I suspect you're misunderstanding the term. A "quorum" is the minimum number of people who must be present to conduct business. They can't bring indictments without a quorum because they can't do anything¹--including voting not to bring indictments--without a quorum. If fewer than 16 people are present, the grand jury is powerless for that meeting, but if a quorum is present, that fact alone doesn't imply anything about how many members must vote in favor of an indictment in order to bring one.

¹Other than things such as merely discussing the case without taking any action, or recessing until the next meeting.

By: alms

alms — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 06:11:30 -0800

I'm still wondering how the utter secrecy of grand juries is so effectively enforced.