A grand jury declined for a third time to indict a D.C. woman accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an inmate swap with ICE – a rare loss for federal prosecutors that could foreshadow further trouble if the case goes to trial.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said in a filing Monday it would move ahead with charging Sidney Lori Reid with a misdemeanor for the alleged assault outside the D.C. Jail in July. A magistrate judge had given prosecutors until Monday afternoon to secure an indictment against Reid or see the felony version of the assault charge dismissed.
A grand jury declining to indict three times on the same case is a warning the evidence may not stand up at trial, according to attorney Christopher Macchiaroli, a partner at Silverman Thompson Slutkin White who previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the federal prosecutor’s office in D.C.
Jury nullification is when a case goes to trial and the jury gives a not guilty verdict even though everyone agrees the person did in fact do the crime.
A grand jury declining to indict means somebody is attempting to press charges but the jury isn’t willing to try them even before the trial begins, being an indicator that the prosecution might not have enough evidence worth wasting a judge and jury’s time.
This is what happens when the boss is a hack propagandist whose half-drunk all the time, making decisions with the same logic that she demands justice on TV, for outrage and ratings.
Come to find out, real court doesn’t work like the Neilson ratings, and you actually have to have an actual case, if you want to put an actual human being in actual prison for actual years.
Careful with that talk, pal, some people might take offense to having any faith in the complex system in these parts.
Grand juries can also be nullified. If the grand jury believes nobody should be charged for the crime they can claim the evidence is insufficient.
But like with regular juries, you didn’t nullify, you just didn’t buy the government’s story