Brief in Support of Motion for Production of Grand Jury Transcript

DEFENDANT’S BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR PRODUCTION OF

GRAND JURY TRANSCRIPT

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:

COMES NOW, the Defendant, John Edward Jones, by and through his attorney of record, and submits this, his Brief in Support of Motion for Production of Grand Jury Transcript; and in support thereof would show the Honorable Court the following:

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The Defendant was indicted in the instant case on February 24, 2006 for the offense of murder. The grand jury that returned the indictment heard testimony from witnesses on two separate occasions, those being February 17th and 20th of 2006.

The Defendant believes that the witnesses that testified before the grand jury were called by the State of Texas to attempt to defeat a claim of self-defense by the Defendant at trial. The Defendant believes that due process requires that the Defendant have access to the grand jury transcripts to determine the extent to which the witnesses support or defeat a claim of self-defense. The witnesses in question also gave written statements to detectives of the Fort Worth Police Department. The Defendant needs access to the grand jury transcripts to determine to what extent the witnesses followed or contradicted their written statements in their testimony before the grand jury.

The Defendant also believes that because of long-standing Tarrant County practice that the State of Texas will use the grand jury transcripts to refresh the recollection of the witnesses prior to their testimony for the State at trial.

The Defendant has filed a Motion for Production of Grand Jury Transcript seeking access to the grand jury transcripts of the witnesses to the alleged offense in the district court in which this case is pending. The Defendant has also filed a copy of the Motion with the attorney representing the state, the parties to the judicial proceeding, and any other persons required by the court to receive a copy of the petition. See Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 20.02.

AUTHORITIES AND ARGUMENT

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 20.02 provides: "(a) The proceedings of the grand jury shall be secret" and "(d) The Defendant may petition a court to order the disclosure of information otherwise made secret by this article … [upon] a showing by the Defendant of a particularized need." See Bynum v. State, 767 S.W.2d 769, Tex.Cr.App. 1989).

The trial court has considerable discretion concerning production of grand jury testimony. Bynum...