Can a private citizen present evidence to a grand jury? What is the process?

Can a private citizen present evidence to a grand jury? What is the process?

If a private citizen has evidence that someone violated criminal laws by what mechanism can such a citizen present the evidence to a grand jury? Is there a formal request process?

Response:

Many states (and I think Texas is one) have laws which establish a procedure by which a citizen can bring evidence to a grand jury's attention, without going through a prosecutor. To find out if Texas has such a law, you can check on FindLaw, www.findlaw.com - look for the Texas statutes that govern grand jury practice and the Texas rules of court dealing with grand juries. Or, you can try calling a Texas law professor who teaches Criminal Procedure and ask him or her about this. Or, as a final alternative, you can call the clerk of the court where the grand jury sits and ask the clerk how you would go about getting evidence directly to the grand jury.

Even if Texas does not have a statute or court rule establishing a formal procedure for this, you can always contact the clerk of the court that supervises the grand jury in your county/area and ask if you can submit evidence to the grand jury. The clerk can tell you how, and if, you do that.

Good luck.

SWB

2002