John Roe was selected to be the foreperson of the Grand Jury of St. Louis County for the September 2015 term and served in that capacity for two weeks. That’s when Judge Steven H. Goldman, at the request of Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, removed Roe even though he met all of the requirements and no misconduct is alleged. On October 16, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri asked the Missouri Court of Appeals to review the decision to remove Roe.
“Missouri’s statutes spell out when an already sworn-in grand juror can be removed, and none of them justify the removal of this grand juror,” explains Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. “Grand juries are supposed to be independent bodies. Allowing the Prosecuting Attorney to change the grand jury mid-term is antithetical to the notion that grand juries are independent.”
“Across the country, a conversation is taking place about whether grand juries remain effective for protecting the rights of potential defendants and dealing with allegations of police misconduct. And in St Louis County, concerns have been raised about the Prosecuting Attorney’s office use of grand juries,” said Jeffrey A. Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri. “If a prosecuting attorney is tampering with an empaneled grand jury, we must ensure that the system is fixed.”
