I have been trying to figure out when the grand jury was convened. I can't find any documentation that New Jersey keeps a standing grand jury impaneled.
The first report of a 'grand jury subpoena' was February 3, when it was reported that documents from Christie's office were subpoenaed by the federal prosecutors, but they sometimes wrote grand jury subpoena and sometimes federal prosecutor subpoena, it isn't consistent. So, it's possible that 'grand jury' was an error and the prosecutor's office was issuing the subpoenas when a request didn't work. Or, it's possible that the federal prosecutors had already identified a specific federal crime and that a judge then convened a grand jury to conduct the investigation in late January.
They interviewed Dawn Zimmer January 18, so that may have given them the crime and they got the grand jury convened them. Renna quit January 31. Christie's office got subpoenaed February 3rd. Nunziato was probably interviewed shortly before March 4th, that's the date his lawyer changed his story to the press.
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/.... – Christes acknolweged federal supoean for documnts.
Fishman’s grand jury has issued subpoenas at least since January, asking for documents related to the case, and FBI agents have spoken to various people. But until now there were no sightings or reports of actual testimony. However, ABC News reported late Friday that Drewniak appeared before the grand jury on Friday. Apparently, his appearance was uncovered by accident. Reporters from ABC happened to see him walking into the courthouse, and managed to interview his lawyer, Anthony Iacullo, a specialist in criminal law, who said Drewniak was a witness, not a target, of the investigation. In any case, it isn’t known if he is the first person to testify. But he probably won’t be the last.
Before a judge will order a grand jury to be convened, the prosecutors must have made a preliminary investigation and identified a crime:
People also are summoned to serve on grand juries. A grand jury decides whether there is enough evidence for a person to be brought to trial for a crime. Most criminal cases begin with a decision by a grand jury to indict a defendant. An indictment is an official, written accusation charging someone with a crime. An indictment is not proof of a crime.
Grand juries consist of 23 people who typically meet once a week for 16 weeks. Grand juries are operated by prosecutors, who decide what evidence to present to the grand jury. Unlike criminal or civil trials, grand jury proceedings are not open to the public.
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/....
there are two kinds of subpoenas:
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/....
There are two kinds of grand jury subpoenas:
· Subpoena ad testificandum – ordering people to testify before the jury
· Subpoena duces tecum – ordering evidence such as documents, test results, or tape recordings to be brought before the jury
If you have received a grand jury subpoena, you have three options. 1)You may comply with the terms of the subpoena, 2) convince a court that you don’t have to comply with it, 3) or refuse to comply and be held in contempt of court.
Whenever the grand jury was convened, the fact that they are questioning witnesses is significant:
Legal experts say the hearing of grand-jury testimony is an important development that means U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman has accumulated enough evidence to move past a preliminary inquiry into the controversial lane closings and into a grand jury investigation of them.
“The fact that there is an active grand-jury investigation does mean that the government is taking the inquiry seriously enough to bring witnesses before the grand jury,” said Joseph Hayden, a prominent defense lawyer and former state prosecutor, “but it does not mean any decision has been made as to whether or not there has been a federal offense or whether there is a provable case. http://www.nj.com/....
So, I think the grand jury was impaneled after they met with Dawn Zimmer, and that when they met with Renna, possibly February 3, a crime had by then been identified and it had to include both Hoboken and the GWB, so it must be a conspiracy charge that the grand jury is seeking to prove or disprove.
That's what I think.
A grand jury is a group of citizens who meet to examine the evidence against individuals who may be charged with a crime. The grand jury's work is done in complete secrecy. Only an Assistant United States Attorney, a stenographer, and the witnesses subpoenaed to deliver grand jury testimony are allowed in the grand jury room.
After hearing the evidence presented by the Assistant United States Attorney, the grand jury will decide whether there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. If the grand jury decides that there is probable cause to believe that the defendant has violated a criminal law of the United States, they will return an indictment. If the grand jury finds that this is not true, they will return a "no bill."
http://www.justice.gov/....