Grand Jury Administrator:
Assistant District Attorney
Therese Lendino
The Grand Jury is the focal point for the prosecution of a person arrested on criminal charges. Shortly after the person is arraigned in court and advised of the nature of the charges pending against them, the District Attorney must decide in which court to proceed against the arrested person. The choice is an important one since most felony cases are prosecuted in Supreme Court which is the only court that can sentence a person to more than one year in jail. Should the District Attorney decide that such a punishment is appropriate, the District Attorney must present the case to the Grand Jury and this jury decides whether the person should be held for trial in the Supreme Court.
The Grand Jury has 23 members appointed by the Supreme Court who listen to the evidence presented, which may include the defendant's testimony. These people have been randomly selected from the jury pool for Queens County. If 12 members of the Grand Jury, after hearing the evidence against the defendant, vote to indict the defendant, the case is sent to the Supreme Court for trial.
The Queens County District Attorney employs a "vertical presentation" method of presenting cases to the Grand Jury. This method means that the same ADA who initially interviewed the crime victim presents the case to the Grand Jury. This same ADA would also handle the case in Supreme Court until it is tried or the defendant pleads guilty. Having the same ADA on the case from the beginning helps ease the stress on victims of crime as they are asked to testify both before the Grand Jury and later at trial.
The Bureau supervises the office’s No Plea Policy. Defendants arrested for felonies in Queens County must, if they wish to engage in pre-indictment plea negotiations, waive their 180.80 and speedy trial rights at their Criminal Court arraignment. If they do not waive these rights, the case will be presented to the Grand Jury and the defendant must plead to the top count of the indictment. If the defendant waives these rights, the case will be conferenced with a Deputy Bureau Chief. Very often the defendant agrees to take a felony plea prior to being indicted. In fact, almost 60% of the felony prosecutions in Queens County are handled pre-indictment. If the defendant refuses to take a plea prior to indictment, the case will be presented to the Grand Jury and, if the defendant is indicted, he must plead guilty to the top count of the indictment or go to trial.
Another activity conducted by the Grand Jury Bureau involves the extraditing of individuals who have fled the county subsequent to their arrest. Senior Assistant District Attorney Alix Kucker is charged with this responsibility.
The Grand Jury Bureau also indicts individuals who fail to appear for their felony cases. In fact, Queens County prosecutes more individuals for bail jumping than any other county in New York State.
Almost 70% of the bail jumping indictments in New York City are indicted in Queens County because of this very aggressive program.
|
