29-10.1 Grand Jury

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CHAPTER 29-10.1GRAND JURY29-10.1-01. Grand jury defined - Formation - Functions. A grand jury must consist ofnot less than eight nor more than eleven persons of the county possessing the qualifications of<br>jurors prescribed by law, and impaneled and sworn to inquire into all crimes or public offenses<br>against laws of this state triable within the county and, if the evidence warrants, present them to<br>the district court by written indictment.29-10.1-02. When grand jury may be called. No grand jury may be drawn, summoned,or convened in any county within this state unless the district judge thereof shall so direct by a<br>written order filed with the clerk of the court in the county wherein the said grand jury is required<br>to attend.Any judge of the district court for any county must direct, in the manner hereinprovided, that a grand jury be drawn and summoned to attend whenever:1.The judge deems the attendance of a grand jury necessary for the due enforcement<br>of the laws of the state;2.The board of county commissioners of the county wherein the court is to be held, in<br>writing, requests the judge so to do; or3.A petition in writing requesting the same is presented to the judge, signed by<br>qualified electors of the county equal in number to at least ten percent of the total<br>vote cast in the county for the office of governor of the state at the last general<br>election.29-10.1-03.Judge to summon grand jury.Upon presentment of the request ofpetition, the judge shall promptly summon and convene the grand jury.29-10.1-04. Petition for grand jury - Petitioners - Number - Session. The petition fora grand jury prescribed by section 29-10.1-02 must be verified on information and belief by at<br>least three of the petitioners.The formation of a grand jury under this chapter may not beinvalidated should it appear or be proven after the grand jury has been summoned that any of the<br>petitioners were not qualified electors or that the petition was not signed by the required number<br>of qualified electors. No grand jury may remain in session in excess of ten calendar days, unless<br>the judge by written order filed with the clerk of the court extends the session as may be<br>necessary. Unless extended, the grand jury must be discharged at the close of the tenth day of<br>its session. Saturdays, legal holidays, and days in recess must be excluded in computing the<br>duration of the initial or extended session.29-10.1-05. Challenges by state, when, and causes.1.The state may challenge the panel of a grand jury or an individual grand juror at any<br>time before the grand jury is impaneled and sworn.2.A challenge to the panel may be asserted by the state upon the ground only that the<br>grand jurors were not selected according to law.3.A challenge to an individual grand juror may be asserted by the state upon the<br>ground only that the person is not a qualified juror.29-10.1-06.Challenge may be oral or written.A challenge to the panel or to anindividual grand juror may be oral or in writing and must be tried to the court.29-10.1-07. Challenge allowed or disallowed - Entry by clerk. The court shall allow ordisallow a challenge to the panel of a grand jury or to an individual grand juror, and the clerk shall<br>enter its decision upon the minutes.Page No. 129-10.1-08. Challenge allowed - Procedure. Whenever a challenge to the panel or toan individual grand juror is allowed, the court shall make an order to the jury commission to<br>summon without delay a sufficient number of persons to complete or to form a grand jury.29-10.1-09. Jury discharged if challenge to panel allowed. If a challenge to the panelis allowed, the grand jury must be discharged in which event the judge may order another grand<br>jury to be summoned and convened.29-10.1-10.Challenge to panel after indictment presented.At any time prior topleading to the indictment, the person against whom an indictment has been found and<br>presented may move the court to dismiss the indictment upon the ground that the jurors were not<br>selected or impaneled according to law.29-10.1-11. Court to appoint foreman and vice foreman.When the grand jury iscompleted, the court shall appoint one of the jurors to be foreman and another to act as foreman<br>in case of the absence of the foreman.29-10.1-12. Oath of grand jurors. Superseded by N.D.R.Ct. 6.10.29-10.1-13. Court shall charge grand jury - Duty of court to advise. After the grandjury is impaneled and sworn, the court shall charge the jurors concerning the offenses that may<br>be considered by them or that are likely to come before them, and concerning their duties as<br>prescribed by law. The court, upon request of the grand jurors and at all reasonable times, shall<br>advise them regarding their duties.29-10.1-14. Retirement of grand jurors. After the charge by the court, the grand jurorsshall retire to a private room which must be provided for by the county commissioners and<br>perform their duties as prescribed by law.29-10.1-15.Clerk appointment by grand jurors - Duty.The grand jury, unless acompetent reporter is appointed, shall appoint a member of the jury as clerk, who shall preserve<br>minutes of all the proceedings of the jurors, and exhibits presented, except of the votes of the<br>individual members, and of the evidence given before them. Upon the conclusion of the grand<br>jury session, all exhibits must be placed in the custody of the state's attorney unless otherwise<br>directed by the court.29-10.1-16. Reporter - Transcript.1.Unless otherwise directed by the court, the grand jury shall appoint a competent<br>reporter who must be sworn and who shall record in shorthand or stenotype notes,<br>the testimony given in matters before the grand jury. Whenever an indictment is<br>returned, and if so directed by the court, the reporter shall cause the testimony to be<br>transcribed.2.Whenever the court directs the testimony to be transcribed, the reporter shall certify<br>and file with the clerk of court the original and sufficient copies of the transcript so as<br>to provide a copy for each person indicted and one for the state's attorney or<br>prosecutor. The reporter shall complete the certification of the transcript within thirty<br>days after the date of the order unless a different period of time is specified by the<br>court.3.All exhibits presented to the grand jury must be placed in the custody of the state's<br>attorney or prosecutor unless otherwise directed by the court.29-10.1-17. Selection of jurors. Before accepting a person drawn as a grand juror, thecourt must be satisfied that such person is duly qualified to act as such. A person drawn as a<br>juror may be excused for good cause by the court before the person is sworn.Page No. 229-10.1-18. Expenses. All necessary expenses of the grand jury incurred in its officialcapacity must be paid by the state out of funds appropriated to the supreme court.29-10.1-19.Subpoenas.The grand jury may issue subpoenas or subpoenasduces tecum to any witness within the state. Subpoenas may also be issued by the state's<br>attorney or prosecutor in the manner provided in the statutes or North Dakota Rules of Criminal<br>Procedure.29-10.1-20. Filling vacancies. Whenever the membership of a grand jury is reduced innumber for any reason, after the grand jury has been impaneled, the judge may direct that the<br>vacancy be filled, and shall so direct if necessary to maintain the minimum number required, in<br>the same manner as the original members were selected. No person selected as a grand juror<br>to fill a vacancy may vote on any matter upon which evidence has been taken prior to the time of<br>the person's selection.29-10.1-21. General duties of grand jury. The grand jury shall inquire into the cause ofdetention of every person imprisoned in the jail of the county against whom neither a criminal<br>complaint nor information has been filed, or who has not had or waived a preliminary<br>examination, and into all public offenses committed or triable in the county, and if the evidence<br>so warrants, shall present them to the court by written indictment. As to any offense committed<br>while the grand jury is in session, the state's attorney or prosecutor may proceed with a<br>preliminary examination or the filing of an information, as provided for by law, and prosecute the<br>charge, and, under such conditions, the grand jury is not required to inquire into such offense.<br>The presentment of an indictment against a person does not preclude the prosecution of such<br>person for the same offense upon a criminal complaint or information previously filed with the<br>court.29-10.1-22. Subjects of grand jury inquiry. Whenever directed by the district court, thegrand jury shall inquire into:1.The condition and management of the public prisons in the county; and2.Willful and corrupt misconduct in office of public officials of every description in the<br>county.29-10.1-23. Grand jurors entitled to access to prisons and public records. Grandjurors are entitled to free access, at all reasonable times, to public prisons, and to the<br>examination, without charge, of all public records in the county.29-10.1-24.Member must report known offense and must give evidence.If amember of a grand jury knows or has reason to believe that a public offense which is triable in<br>the county has been committed, the member shall declare such fact to the member's fellow<br>jurors, who shall investigate the same. In such investigation, the grand juror may be sworn as a<br>witness.29-10.1-25. Oath or affirmation to witness. Superseded by N.D.R.Ct. 6.10.29-10.1-26. Reception of evidence.1.Subject to subsection 2, the grand jury shall receive only evidence which is:a.Given by witnesses produced and sworn before the grand jury;b.Furnished by writings, material objects, or other things perceivable through the<br>senses; orc.Contained in a deposition or transcript that is admissible under the North<br>Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure.Page No. 32.The grand jury shall receive only evidence that would be admissible over objection<br>at the trial of a criminal action, but the fact the evidence inadmissible at the trial was<br>received by the grand jury does not render the indictment void if sufficient competent<br>evidence to support the indictment was received by the grand jury.29-10.1-27.Exculpatory evidence.The grand jury shall weigh all the evidencesubmitted to it, and when it has reason to believe that there is exculpatory evidence within its<br>reach, it shall order the evidence to be produced, and for that purpose may require the state's<br>attorney or prosecutor to issue process for the production of such evidence.29-10.1-28. Who may be present during sessions of grand jury. No person may bepresent at a session of the grand jury, other than the witnesses under examination, the judge<br>while giving advice requested by the grand jury, the state's attorney or prosecutor, the attorney<br>general, and the reporter, or interpreter, if any. No person other than the grand jurors may be<br>present while the grand jurors are deliberating or voting, nor may the grand jurors deliberate or<br>vote while any other persons are present. Whenever the grand jury is investigating the state's<br>attorney or any person connected with the state's attorney's office, neither the state's attorney nor<br>any of the state's attorney's assistants or staff may be present before such grand jury during the<br>time of such investigation, except as a witness and, after such appearance as a witness, shall<br>leave the place where the grand jury is in session.29-10.1-29.Duty of state's attorney.The state's attorney or prosecutor, upon therequest of the grand jurors, shall advise them regarding their duties. The state's attorney or<br>prosecutor, at all reasonable times, may appear before them on the person's own motion for the<br>purpose of giving the grand jurors information or advice regarding any matter cognizable by them<br>and may interrogate witnesses before them whenever the state's attorney or prosecutor believes<br>it necessary.29-10.1-30.Secrecy of things said and votes - Limited disclosure by certainpersons and under certain conditions.1.Every member of a grand jury shall keep secret whatever that member or any other<br>grand juror may have said, or in what manner that member or any other grand juror<br>may have voted on a matter before the jurors.2.Matters other than the deliberations and vote of any grand juror may be disclosed by<br>the state's attorney, prosecutor, or attorney general solely in the performance of the<br>person's duties.3.Otherwise a juror, attorney, interpreter, reporter, or public servant, having official<br>duties in or about a grand jury room or proceeding, may disclose matters occurring<br>before the grand jury only when so directed by the court pursuant to section<br>29-10.1-31.4.A witness may not disclose any matter about which the witness is interrogated, or<br>any proceedings of the grand jury had in the witness's presence, except to the<br>witness's attorney or when so directed by the court, until an indictment is filed and<br>the accused person is in custody.29-10.1-31. When juror may disclose testimony upon order of the court. A memberof a grand jury or its reporter or interpreter may be required by any court to disclose the<br>testimony of a witness examined before the grand jury for the purpose of impeachment of the<br>witness before the court, or to disclose the testimony given before them by any person, upon a<br>charge against the person for perjury in giving the person's testimony, or upon the person's trial<br>in a criminal prosecution.29-10.1-32. Grand juror cannot be questioned. A grand juror cannot be questioned foranything the grand juror may say, or any vote the grand juror may give, in a session of the grandPage No. 4jury, relative to a matter legally pending before the jurors, except upon a charge against the<br>grand juror for perjury in giving the person's testimony to the person's fellow jurors.29-10.1-33.When indictment ought to be found.The grand jurors shall find anindictment charging a person with the commission of an offense when all the evidence before<br>them, taken together, is such as in their judgment would warrant a conviction by the trial jury.29-10.1-34. Finding indictment - Number of jurors required. An indictment cannot befound without the concurrence of at least six grand jurors.Whenever so found, it must beendorsed &quot;a true bill&quot; and the endorsement must be signed by the foreman of the grand jury.<br>The names of the witnesses known to the grand jury must be endorsed thereon before the<br>indictment is presented to the court.29-10.1-35. Presentment of indictment to court by foreman. An indictment found bythe grand jurors must be presented by the foreman, in their presence, to the court, and must be<br>filed with the clerk.29-10.1-36. Persons indicted - How arrested. Whenever an indictment is found andpresented against a person, the proceedings prescribed in chapter 29-12 govern when necessary<br>to secure the person's appearance before the court.29-10.1-37.Jurors to be discharged upon completion of business.Upon thecompletion of the business before them, or whenever the court is of opinion that the public<br>interests will not be served by further continuation of their sessions, the grand jurors must be<br>discharged by the court.29-10.1-38. Transcript demand - Waiver of transcript and preliminary examination,when. Within five days after a first appearance before a magistrate, the person against whom an<br>indictment has been found and presented may make a written demand to the district judge for a<br>copy of the transcript of the testimony given before the grand jury as it relates to that person and<br>the charges against that person. Upon receipt of such written demand, the judge shall issue an<br>appropriate order.If the judge for any reason determines that a copy of a transcript of thetestimony cannot be obtained, the person indicted is entitled, but not otherwise, to a preliminary<br>examination, as provided by the statutes or North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure for<br>persons otherwise charged with a crime. Under such conditions, the preliminary examination<br>must be had before a judge of the district court serving the county in which the crime was<br>committed or is triable. Failure to make such demand within the time prescribed constitutes a<br>waiver of the right to the transcript or to a preliminary examination.29-10.1-39.Violation constitutes contempt.Any person who willfully violates anyprovision of this chapter is guilty of contempt of court.Page No. 5Document Outlinechapter 29-10.1 grand jury