Grand juries get OK to convene

Precautions in place as many state courts advance on reopening

Grand juries, the secret panels that decide whether to indict or clear defendants in criminal cases, began to convene for the first time in four months Monday in state courts outside New York City.

New York’s Chief Judge Janet Difiore, who announced the development in her latest weekly address amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said the return of grand juries was a “significant milestone not only for our court system but for the entire criminal justice system.”

She said the court system outside New York City went into stage four on Friday to mirror other aspects of the state’s reopening.

Federal grand juries remain suspended until at least Aug. 10.

Difiore said at the state level, judges and judicial staffers are hearing increased in-person matters; court officers are screening visitors’ temperatures; and court appearances are being staggered to limit courthouse and courtroom occupancy.

In a sign of progress, Difiore said a criminal trial in Manhattan that was suspended in March due to COVID-19 would resume.

“We view this not only as part of our ongoing responsibilities to the parties involved in that litigation, but as an excellent opportunity to help us responsibly prepare for the resumption of in-court proceedings, including new jury trials,” she said.

Grand juries have 23 members; 12 votes are needed to indict. At least 16 grand jurors need to be present to hear evidence.

Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen said a new grand jury was empaneled Monday by Saratoga County Judge James A. Murphy III.

“We’re going to start presenting our cases in the coming week,” Heggen said, adding that her office and grand jurors would follow all safety protocols.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said neither of the grand jury rooms in Schenectady County Court can be used during the pandemic because they are not big enough. He said grand juries will convene in a courtroom large enough for jurors to practice social distancing. They will all have masks on, he said; no existing grand juries from earlier this year are reconvening.

The county’s commissioner of jurors began assembling panels on Monday, Carney said.

Albany County Chief Assistant District Attorney David Rossi said the grand jury room in the Albany County Judicial Center is too small to be used. The grand juries will instead hear evidence in the larger jury selection room on the building’s first floor. Rossi said the tougher task will be to empanel grand juries: Hundreds of potential grand jurors will come into court, be screened and broken into groups and trained, which could take a few days, he said; evidence will be heard a week later.

In Difiore’s address, the chief judge noted the surge in COVID-19 cases in other states. As a result, she said, beginning Wednesday all judges and nonjudicial staffers will be screened on their arrival at their courthouse.

“Together with Covidscreening of all courthouse visitors, and our recent memo providing detailed guidance about quarantines and out-ofstate travel, we are putting our court system in the best position to protect the health and safety of our judges, our professional workforce and the public we serve,” Difiore said.

“Now, candidly, I understand that some may find these measures inconvenient,” Difiore added, “but they are necessary given the ‘new normal’ that we are all living in, and it is critically important that we remain consistent and disciplined in following these practices in order to achieve our goal of restoring in-person justice services without contributing to a resurgence of COVID-19.”