Thursday, Mar. 06, 2008
End of grand jury leaves questions
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ReprintThe Johnson County grand jury’s investigation into Planned Parenthood’s Overland Park clinic left doubt as to whether jurors were given all the information necessary to make a decision. There was more interference from the judge, special counsel and the subject of the investigation than usual in grand jury inquests. And the abrupt ending of the grand jury investigation leaves more questions than answers.
What’s puzzling is how the court allowed Planned Parenthood to negotiate — or dictate — what it gave to the grand jury. When does the subject of a criminal investigation negotiate evidence? Subjects negotiate plea agreements but not evidence subpoenaed by grand jury.
Fighting a subpoena is common, but Judge Kevin Moriarty wouldn’t rule on Planned Parenthood’s motion to quash it. Judges’ decisions get appealed to higher courts all the time, so why was Moriarty afraid to let due process take its course? He should have ruled and tried not to be a peacemaker with two entities that never will be at peace.
Three weeks were wasted trying to settle a nonnegotiable issue. He should have ruled and extended the grand jury in all fairness to the citizens who petitioned for the formation of the grand jury. Even if the grand jury came to the same conclusion — a finding of no criminal wrongdoing — at least jurors would have made the decision based on all the evidence, not what was dictated to them.
The grand jury that investigated obscenity did not face this type of interference, and it did not have a special counsel advising jurors how to proceed. Abortion, however, is a different issue. It's a politically motivated issue, and neither side ever will find middle ground so why did the court and special counsel try to find it? Until the petitioners know whether the grand jury can make a decision based on all the evidence and without interference, they will continue to submit petitions for grand jury investigations.
The same issue will come before the court, and a judge will have to make a tough decision. Planned Parenthood may think it won a victory, but this was a mockery of the legal process, making the law that allows Kansas residents to petition for the formation of a grand jury seem meaningless.