Do You Want to Know a Secret? Key Variations in State Grand Jury Secrecy Rules and What They Mean for Criminal Defendants

• Pages: 26-33
• Date: 01 April 2025
• Published date: 01 April 2025
• Author: Andrew S. Boutros,Jay Schleppenbach
• Subject Matter: Derecho Público y Administrativo

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE | SPRING 2025

In February 2023, the foreperson of the special

grand jury investigating possible election interfer-

ence in Georgia startled many observers by em-

barking on a media tour where she discussed the

grand jury investigation. Charles Homans, The Trump

Juror Who Got Under America’s Skin, N.Y. Times (Mar.

15, 2023), https://tinyurl.com/5crrtrbe. Noting the

traditional secrecy surrounding grand jury proceed-

ings, some described the foreperson’s conduct as “a

terrible blow for [the] legal system” that made the

grand jury look like “a kangaroo court.” Brian Flood,

“Oddball” Trump Grand Jury Foreperson Emily Kohrs

Dealt a “Terrible Blow” to Prosecution, Andrew Mc-

Carthy Says, FOX News (Feb. 25, 2023), https://

tinyurl.com/3r67s74h. Others argued that, while bad

form, the foreperson’s conduct did not violate the

law since the Georgia rules only render a grand jury’s

“deliberations” secret, not the testimony or evidence

presented before it. Norm Eisen & Fred Wertheimer,

Opinion: Georgia Grand Juror’s Tacky Media Tour

Won’t Trash the Case, CNN (Feb. 23, 2023), https://

tinyurl.com/4zn2tfvp (citing Ga. Code Ann. § 15-12-67;

Olsen v. State, 806 S.E.2d 556 (Ga. 2017)). The judge

overseeing the grand jury agreed with the latter

view, publicly opining that Georgia grand jurors

“can talk about the f‌inal report” of their investigation

and “witness testimony,” but not their deliberations.

ANDREW S. BOUTROS is co-chair of Shook, Hardy &

Bacon LLP’s White Collar practice, resident in its Chicago

and Washington, DC, ofces, and Lecturer in Law at

The University of Chicago Law School. A former federal

prosecutor, Boutros handles white collar matters, internal

and cross-border investigations, and complex litigations.

JOHN R. (JAY) SCHLEPPENBACH is a partner in

Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP’s White Collar practice

in Chicago, where he represents major corporations

in internal investigations and litigated matters. A

former appellate prosecutor, Schleppenbach also

has served as coach to the international arbitration

moot court team at Northwestern Law.

Do You Want to Know

a Secret? Key Variations

in State Grand Jury

Secrecy Rules and

What They Mean for

Criminal Defendants

BY ANDREW S. BOUTROS AND JAY SCHLEPPENBACH

Published in Criminal Justice, Volume 40, Number 1, Spring 2025. © 2025 by

the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in

any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database orretrieval system

without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.