Grand jurors see other world of crime, justice

Daniela Mohor

Monday, Nov. 26, 2001 | 8:24 a.m.

In the 20 years she worked as a correctional officer in a California prison, Patricia Greenwood never learned how the justice system works prior to incarceration.

Although she followed some criminal trials on television, Carol LaCosta, a retired teacher, never realized how thorough the process leading to a conviction is -- until last year.

As the District Court dismissed one of its grand jury panels last month and chose 17 new grand jurors and 12 alternates to serve in the coming year, jurors finishing their term praised their experience in the judicial system.

Being a grand juror was not only an opportunity to serve the community, they said. It was an occasion to receive a hands-on lesson in justice.

"It was the most exciting experience in my life," said Cherrie Hinkle, a housewife who served with Greenwood and LaCosta. "This is exactly what America is about ... the opportunity to speak, to listen to what's going on in the system. It's an education that I wouldn't miss."

Grand jurors are residents who, on the court's request, agree to adjust their lives to be able to spend a day every week reviewing criminal cases and issuing indictments. Two panels operate simultaneously for yearlong terms -- one appointed in October, one in April. Jurors are paid a maximum of $30 per day for their service.

Although in many cases giving up a day of work is both a sacrifice of time and money, most grand jurors said it was worth the trouble.

"It was quite an experience because I got to see the whole process: the grand jury, the conviction or non-conviction, the jury trial and so on," Greenwood said.

Before they go to trial, criminal cases are screened by the district attorney's office, which decides whether to hold a preliminary hearing or to send the cases to the grand jury.

The procedures play the same role, but while preliminary hearings are an open process, grand jury sessions are held in secret.

Defense attorneys cannot be present when prosecutors question the witnesses before grand juries, and the jurors are not allowed to discuss the cases they examine.

"Ninety-nine percent of the cases go to preliminary hearing," Christopher Laurent, chief deputy district attorney and the grand jury director, said. "Certain cases go to the grand jury, and there are a variety of reasons."

Among those reasons: to avoid trauma to sensitive victims, such as children; to protect confidential informants or undercover officers; or to unravel very complex cases that may require several dozens of witnesses to testify.

Finally, the grand jury is used to get back into the system cases that have been previously dismissed due to a judicial mistake or misruling.

Grand jurors review the evidence, deliberate and vote whether or not to indict. An indictment requires 12 of the 17 jurors to agree with prosecutors' arguments.

"It's an awesome responsibility. If you vote wrong, you can destroy a person's life," Hinkle said. "But you have to do what you think is right."

That responsibility, former grand jurors said, is only one of the many challenges the job entails.

For Carol LaCosta, who served last year, being a grand juror was also a lesson in life. Her experience in court, she said, forced her to think about some of the illnesses of society.

"It's hard to imagine people do what they do to other people," LaCosta said. "You read about it, you see it on TV, but this made it come to life. ... It really opened my eyes to what's going on in the world."

Grand jurors are usually people who haven't been exposed to violence or crime and are asked to enter a world unfamiliar to them.

The qualifications are simple: they must be U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old and have no felony convictions.

Beyond that, the selection is fairly random. The county clerk's office twice yearly sends affidavits and questionnaires to 4,000 people whose names are drawn from the Department of Motor Vehicles and voter registration records.

The first 100 returning the affidavits are automatically selected. Court administrators verify that they have no felony records and pass their names and some biographical information to the District Court judges.

Once they have looked at the candidates' background, the judges meet and pick 50 people out of the 100-name list.

A lottery is used to finish the job, under the supervision of the District Court chief judge.

The grand jurors' work starts right away.

"You'd be very tired and exhausted when you go home because you've seen and heard so much," former grand juror Terry Warner said." We're not used to murders and death and drugs. Some of it would be very depressing to sit in until the end."