Opinion ID: 2552553
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of Motion to Dismiss the Indictment

Text: The case against defendant began by grand jury indictment. Before trial, defendant moved to quash the indictment on the ground that the district attorney's office had helped to select the grand jurors, in violation of the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution (art. Ill, § 3) and the due process guaranties contained in the California and federal Constitutions. The trial court conducted a hearing on the motion and denied it. The Court of Appeal subsequently denied defendant's petition for writ of prohibition, and we denied review. The trial court entertained the motion on the basis of defendant's points and authorities and an answer submitted by the prosecution, which contained declarations. Prosecution declarations made by an investigator for the district attorney averred that the district attorney's office performs a criminal history check on prospective grand jurors who have applied to serve on the grand jury, and interviews the applicants' neighbors, acquaintances, employers, and other references. Once the district attorney's office completes its investigative work, it sends a memorandum to the presiding judge of the superior court, summarizing the results of its background checks. The prospective grand juror applications remain confidential within the district attorney's office, and individual deputy district attorneys are not asked to give an opinion on individual prospective grand jurors unless the applicant lists a deputy district attorney as a reference. Another declaration, from the manager of the Ventura County Jury Commissioner's Office, explained: All applications received by Jury Services are forwarded to the Office of the District Attorney for ... background investigation and subsequent report to the Court. The District Attorney advises the Court of any potential individual exclusion based on the statutory qualifications for service and other information (such as reputation for honesty and integrity) that bears on a prospective grand juror's ability and suitability for service. Three judges ... analyze the prospective grand juror questionnaires in light of ... the results of juror interviews[] and background reports from the District Attorney. The [judges] ... recommend[ ] 30 persons for a proposed Grand Jury panel to the full compl[e]ment of Superior Court judges. [ķ] ... [T]he Superior Court judges review the proposal ... and finally select 30 persons, including any jurors held over from the previous grand jury.... From that pool, the Grand Jury is finally impaneled, by the Clerk's drawing of 19 names. Defendant relied on a letter dated November 12, 1993, and sent from the district attorney to the presiding judge of the superior court, in which the district attorney observed that he had heard three grand jurors felt they were free to disregard the evidence and the law in one case and thus improperly blocked an indictment of a criminal defendant. In denying the motion, the trial court stated, I disagree with what's been characterized as the District Attorney's office giving the Court advice [on selecting grand jurors]. I don't believe they give the Court advice. I think they give us information which the Court needs in order to have a â an adequate and law-abiding grand jury. Defendant contends the court erred in denying his motion to quash the indictment. He contends that the district attorney's investigative role usurped the function of the judiciary in selecting grand jurors. [T]he District Attorney crossed the line from merely assisting the Superior Court by providing preexisting information on prospective [grand] jurors to conducting its own investigation [by means of information gleaned from] neighbors and employers[,] with the power to shape the information provided to the court. Defendant objects to what he views as the ultra vires power of the prosecutor to make discretionary judgments about what information the court will get.... In light of the November 12, 1993, letter, defendant maintains, the record suggests that the District Attorney's decision to expand his office's role in the process of selecting grand jurors was a policy decision made at the highest levels and motivated in part by dissatisfaction with the decision by the grand jury not to indict in a particular case. The Penal Code contains a number of statutes governing the selection of grand jurors (see, e.g., §§ 893, 896, 900, 902, 903.1, 903.2, 908.2, 909), and it is evident that the jury commissioner followed the relevant statutory directives. Respondent argues that the statutes require preliminary determinations of the basic qualifications of potential grand jurors and that the district attorney's office, with its investigative capacity, is ideally suited to gather this basic information. Performing this task, respondent maintains, does not violate the state or federal Constitutions. We find no evidence in the record that the grand jury that indicted defendant was formed by an unconstitutional process. Plainly, the superior court judges selected the grand jurors, relying on their own inquiries and routine background checks performed by the investigative staff of the district attorney's office. Except insofar as a finding by the investigative staff would result in statutory disqualification, the judges enjoyed unfettered discretion in their use of the staffs findings, and the district attorney's office's role was limited to providing the investigative services requested by the jury commissioner, a judicial officer (Code Civ. Proc., § 195; Adams v. Superior Court (1974) 12 Cal.3d 55, 59, 115 Cal.Rptr. 247, 524 P.2d 375; Pantos v. City and County of San Francisco (1984) 151 Cal.App.3d 258, 262, 198 Cal.Rptr. 489). The judges were free to give any weight they wished to the results of the district attorney staffs interviews of prospective grand jurors' neighbors, employers, and acquaintances, and to disregard the results entirely if they wished. It cannot be said that the district attorney's office played any role beyond the limited functions the superior court delegated to it in shaping the constitution of the grand jury. The district attorney's complaint about the conduct of three seated grand jurors, defendant contends, is a significant indication of overreaching by the district attorney's office. The complaint, however, has no bearing on the procedures used to constitute the grand jury. The trial court properly denied the motion to quash the indictment.