(Originally published by the Daily News on Jan. 31, 1985. This story was written by Marcia Kramer and Frank Lombardi)
In a bid to make prosecutors more accountable for their actions, Chief Judge Sol Wachtler has proposed that the state scrap the grand jury system of bringing criminal indictments.
Wachtler, who became the state’s top judge earlier this month, said district attorneys now have so much influence on grand juries that “by and large” they could get them to “indict a ham sandwich.”
Grand juries, which normally have 23 members, are panels of average citizens that meet in secret to determine if there is sufficient evidence to warrant indictment – a formal accusation that precedes a jury trial.
Under Wachtler’s proposal, a district attorney would present some of his evidence directly to a judge at a preliminary hearing to determine whether a suspect should have to stand trial. He said that bypassing the grand jury would save time and money, and would not erode the rights of the accused.
Abolishing the grand jury system would require a state constitutional amendment, which would have to be approved by the Legislature and by voters at a referendum.
Wachtler made his proposal during a wide-ranging interview with editors and reporters of the Daily News on the problems of the state’s criminal justice system.
His top priority, Wachtler said, is to establish an “individual calendar system” in which the same judge would have jurisdiction over a case from beginning to end.
The present “master calendar system” allows different judges to handle the same case at various stages. Wachtler called it “the worst possible way to run the courts.”
Wachtler also said he is in favor of allowing television cameras into the courtrooms. Cameras are now barred by state law.
Wachtler also recommended:
Establishing committees in each county to screen all judicial candidates in an effort to get better-qualified candidates.
Limiting the number of appeals that reach the state’s top courts.
Making increased use of “mediation” to clear up civil cases and some categories of criminal cases without judicial action.
In assessing the state’s court system, Wachtler acknowledged that it faces a variety of serious problems and joked: “I don’t know what I want this job for.”
On the grand jury issue, Wachtler said that “most of the time” prosecutors can obtain indictments simply by how they present their case to a grand jury.
“And what really bothers me is that it’s used, more often than not, as a shield for the district attorney. Most of the time when you want to get a prosecution and you want to indict, you use the grand jury and you can get the damndest kind of indictments.”
And Wachtler said prosecutors can ward off complaints by saying: “Hey, you know that’s the grand jury; it’s not me!”
“It shouldn’t be that way,” Wachtler said.
