Court Opinion

ID: 9704664
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:42:35.070044+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:04.190727
License: Public Domain

FLAHERTY, Justice,
concurring.
I cannot agree with the majority that if there is no due process impediment to conducting a grand jury investigation founded on “rumors” or “mere possibilities” in the federal jurisdiction, such constitute sufficient grounds on which to base an investigation by a grand jury in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is true that the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause does not require the states to go beyond federal standards; however, we are free to adopt more stringent standards in order to safeguard the rights of our citizens.
Historically, as a prerequisite to a grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania, it was required that a judicial determination take place that some credible evidence from a trustworthy source of a violation of the criminal law was present. Commonwealth ex rel. Camelot Detective Agency, Inc. v. Specter, 451 Pa. 370, 303 A.2d 203 (1973). As William Penn, the founder of this Commonwealth, was the target of similar practices perpetrated by King Charles and his “council” in secret meetings, the people of Pennsylvania should be particularly mindful of the abuses that can result when inquisitions are held in secret to discern whether or not some crime may have been committed.
The grand jury must not be set upon fruitless searches, founded upon mere rumor, suspicion or conjecture. *386McNair's Petition, 324 Pa. 48, 187 A. 498 (1936). To hold otherwise is to pave the way for witchhunts and “fishing expeditions”. The liberty of our citizens should not be jeopardized by indiscreet and reckless charges.
In view of how basic this concept is to the law of our Commonwealth, the majority need not have added this unnecessary language.
Therefore, I concur only in the result.
NIX, J., joins in this concurring opinion.