An interesting little snippet from the NY Times, April 21, 1988 (BEFORE the convening of the Grand Jury)
" For prosecutors, grand juries offer the advantage of being able to compel witnesses to testify without much interference from defense lawyers. Operating in total secrecy, grand juries can also subpoena documents.
The drawback is that a grand jury, with a vote by 9 of its 12 members, can hand up an indictment on ''probable cause,'' a lower threshold than ''beyond a reasonable doubt,'' the standard usually used by prosecutors. Also, the prosecutor does not have to follow the jury's recommendation. "
So, it seems that everyone but RDI knows that Hunter was not wrong in deciding not to file charges.
I think most people (even RDI) realize that the threshold is lower in a GJ than in a criminal proceeding. What people have a hard time accepting is Hunters unorthodox refusal to sign the indictment and then deliberately choosing his words to make it appear that the GJ didnt issue any True Bills. Youve read the statement by Colorado law professor Marianne Mimi Wesson that his doing that is not the
proper legal procedure, so I dont have to repeat what she said.
But
rex, when someone quotes an article, I always like to read the article for myself and appreciate when the poster provides a link. Even without it though, I found the article you referenced:
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/22/us/grand-jury-refocuses-spotlight-on-jonbenet-case.html
While the article
was written before the GJ was impaneled, it wasnt written
ten years before. The date is April 21,
1998 (not 19
88).
There are also several other things in the article which may cause you to regret quoting it and sending everyone to read. Here are a few more quotes from the article:
The investigation stalled last winter when, after two months of negotiations, the girl's parents, John and Patricia Ramsey, refused to meet with detectives or to allow their 11-year-old son, Burke, to be interviewed.
And yet, even though the Ramseys couldnt meet with investigators (emphasis mine):
In February, Mr. Tracey filmed four days of interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey, focusing in part on the impact of press scrutiny on their lives.
And then theres this (emphasis mine):
Last fall, police officials renewed a standing appeal to the Ramseys to talk to detectives. Mr. Koby offered to fly detectives to the Ramseys' new home in an Atlanta suburb and even enlisted the services of their Episcopal pastor here for a ''trustbuilding'' session.
Through their lawyers, the Ramseys responded that to build ''good faith,'' the Boulder police should allow the family to review all police evidence in the case, even though evidence sharing is usually restricted to indicted suspects. Then, according to a police press release, the Ramseys would submit to written questions.
By late February, negotiations had broken down. Talks also collapsed with Jim Jenkins, a lawyer hired by Mr. Ramsey to represent JonBenet's brother Burke Ramsey, who, the police say, has never been formally interviewed about her death.
''I am disappointed that we have not had more cooperation from the Ramseys in helping us to get to the truth,'' Mr. Hunter said at a news conference in mid-February.