COUNTY COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCEPTED GRAND JURY REPORTS RE: THE ALLEGED MISCONDUCT, NONFEASANCE OR NEGLECT IN OFFICE OF THREE PUBLIC OFFICIALS; THE PROSECUTOR DID NOT INSTRUCT THE GRAND JURY ON THE SUBSTANTIVE ASPECTS OF THE PUBLIC OFFICIALS’ DUTIES (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing County Court, determined that the grand jury reports concerning the alleged misconduct, nonfeasance or neglect in office of three public officials should not have been accepted by County Court. The reports were therefore sealed:
… County Court erred in directing the public filing of three grand jury reports that accused each appellant respectively of misconduct, nonfeasance, or neglect in office (see generally CPL 190.85 [1] [a]). …
“It is incumbent upon the prosecutor to instruct the [g]rand [j]ury regarding the duties and responsibilities of the public servant . . . target[ed by] the probe’ ” … .”Without a charge as to the substantive aspects of the official’s duties, it [is] not only impossible for the [g]rand [j]ury to determine that the public servant was guilty of misconduct, nonfeasance or neglect, but impermissible as well, for it allow[s] the [g]rand [j]ury to simply substitute its judgment for that of the public servant” … . Here, the prosecutor failed to provide the grand jury with any instructions regarding appellants’ substantive duties in office. Matter of May/June 2018 Oneida County Grand Jury Report (John Doe #1), 2019 NY Slip Op 06356, Fourth Dept 8-22-19