St. Paul Criminal Defense Lawyer talks Grand Jury Transcripts.

Today, the legal transcripts of the Breonna Taylor Grand Jury are to be released. It is extraordinary for many reasons. First, its surprising that they are to be released at all. They are generally secret and stay that way forever. More specifically, the fact that one of the jurors was the one to request it makes it even more wild.

What makes Grand Juries suspect and has for a long time is that prosecutors control everything. They control the evidence, what it is said and how it is said. If you want somebody prosecuted, you drive hard. If you don’t, well . . . That has been the problem.What they say, what they show and how they show it.

Many police shooting cases have gone to the grand jury and they have decided not to charge but it was the prosecutors who presented the evidence. Jack Rice, St. Paul Criminal Defense attorney, is concerned because the secrecy and the control of these grand juries has given far too many prosecutors and court systems the chance to white wash investigations and prosecutions.

This must change. Grand Juries were designed to make hard decisions and to give citizens the opportunity for input. They weren’t designed to manipulate the system and to protect bad acts and bad cops.