In the aftermath of last week’s Order to Show Cause hearing in which the grand jury found itself without actual legal representation before the court in a proceeding against county counsel, who normally would be representing the grand jury, the grand jury has petitioned the Riverside County Superior Court to appoint special counsel to represent it in further legal proceedings, presumably against county counsel.
Among other matters of dispute, county counsel has taken the position that under Penal Code section 921, which entitles the grand jury to examine “all public records within the county,” the grand jury is not entitled to examine all of the county’s records, just all of the county’s public records, presumably interpreting “public” as meaning only those records that are available to the general public through the California Public Records Act, which has myriad exemptions. County counsel’s reading would effectively apply all of the CPRA exemptions to Penal Code section 921, for which position there is no legal precedent.
The petition is set for hearing at 10 p.m. Friday, June 26, in Department 5 of the Superior Court in Riverside.
