Amendment #15 to H65

Statewide Grand Jury

Representatives Dempsey of Haverhill and Fernandes of Milford moves to amend the bill by inserting after section 23 the following sections:-

SECTION 23A.  The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 277A the following chapter:-

CHAPTER 277B

Statewide Grand Jury

Section 1. Upon written application of the attorney general to the chief justice of the superior court department, with good cause stated therein, the chief justice may authorize the convening of a statewide grand jury with jurisdiction extending throughout the commonwealth.

Section 2. The chief justice of the superior court department shall, upon granting an application, receive recommendations from the attorney general as to the county in which the statewide grand jury shall sit. Upon receiving the attorney general’s recommendations, the chief justice shall choose 1 of those recommended locations as the site where the grand jury shall sit. Once a county has been selected, the chief justice shall direct the regional administrative judge from the county selected to appoint, and reappoint as necessary, a superior court judge to preside over the statewide grand jury.

Section 3. The superior court judge presiding over the grand jury shall consult with the attorney general and district attorney for the relevant district about the nature and scope of the investigation and shall thereafter designate and authorize an existing county grand jury to serve as a statewide grand jury for purposes of the investigation specified in the written application, or, alternatively, convene and preside over a specially empaneled statewide grand jury.

Section 4. A specially empaneled statewide grand jury shall be drawn and selected in the same manner as the county grand jury in the county in which the specially empaneled statewide grand jury sits. A specially empaneled statewide grand jury may, at the discretion of the presiding superior court judge, draw jurors from counties adjoining the one in which the statewide grand jury is to sit.

Section 5. A specially empaneled statewide grand jury convened pursuant to this chapter shall sit for a period not to exceed 18 months. The superior court judge presiding over the grand jury may extend this period if, in accordance with section 41 of chapter 234A and section 1A of chapter 277, public necessity requires further time by the grand jury to complete an on-going investigation.

Section 6. The attorney general or an assistant attorney general shall attend each session of a statewide grand jury and may prosecute any indictment returned by it. The attorney general or assistant attorney general shall have the same powers and duties in relation to a statewide grand jury that she has in relation to a county grand jury, except as otherwise provided by law.

Section 7. Indictments shall be returned in the county where the statewide grand jury sits and shall thereafter be transferred to the county specified by the grand jury on the indictment. Venue for purposes of trial of offenses indicted by a statewide grand jury shall be in any county where venue would otherwise be proper.

Section 8. No provision of this chapter shall be construed as limiting the jurisdiction of county grand juries or district attorneys. Except as otherwise provided by law, an investigation by a statewide grand jury shall not preempt an investigation by any other grand jury or agency having jurisdiction over the same subject matter.

SECTION 23B.  Chapter 277B is hereby repealed.

And move to further amend the bill by inserting after section 33 the following section:-

SECTION 33A.  Section 23B shall take effective on December 31, 2020.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #15 to H65

Statewide Grand Jury