Poster Claiming To Be A Grand Jury Member Says L.A. Councilmember Will Be Indicted
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If true, a post on Craigslist would confirm that L.A. City Councilmember Richard Alarcón, top left, could soon face a criminal charge for lying about where he lived. (Creative Commons)
A poster earlier this month on Craigslist claiming to be a grand juror said that L.A. City Councilmember Richard Alarcón would be indicted by an L.A. County criminal grand jury.
The July 7 post, titled "richard alarcon will be Indicted," on the San Fernando Valley News and Views page of the online classifieds site was deleted a week after the initial post date as are most lisitings on the site. However, a Google search for the post reveals a snippet of the listing that reads "i am currently sitting on the los angeles crimminal (sic) grand jury and we are about to Indict richard alarcon for false residency disclosure. ..."
The listing was published on the same day that six members of Alarcón's staff testified in front of a criminal grand jury.
The L.A. County District Attorney's office has been investigating Alarcón since January because of a complaint that he has been living and has registered to vote in a home outside of the district he represents.
Neon Tommy reported earlier Wednesday that Alarcón has collected $9,000 in donations that can only be used to cover legal fees. Alarcón's communications director said Tuesday that the councilmember had no plans yet to spend any of the funds he had collected.
If the individual who posted the listing is, in fact, found to be a grand jury member, then he or she could be in violation of rules governing the use of social media by jurors. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and leaking information could lead to criminal prosecution.
Neon Tommy has forwarded the expired lisiting to the district attorney's office and is awaiting further comment. An e-mail inquiry Wednesday morning to Craigslist seeking more information about the listing has not been returned.
To reach staff reporter Paresh Dave, click here.
Comments
[...] L.A. County District Attorney's office continues to investigate a Craigslist post forwarded to the office by Neon Tommy on July 21. The poster in the July 7 listing claims to be a member of a "crimminal [...]
I agree with the post by "KG" regarding KG's implication of the secrecy rule:
Grand jurors are subject to the secrecy requirement of Rule 6(e). The court generally provides each grand juror with a copy of the Federal Grand Jury Handbook that includes an explanation of Rule 6(e)'s obligation of secrecy. In addition, each grand juror's obligation of secrecy usually is emphasized in the oath each juror takes and in the charge given to the grand jury by the judge. A frequently used practice of Division attorneys is to reiterate the requirements of Rule 6(e) in the opening statement to the grand jury and at appropriate times during subsequent grand jury sessions.
The grand jurors may disclose matters occurring before them, except for their deliberations, to the attorneys representing the Government for use in the performance of their duties or to others when ordered to do so by the court. A grand juror obviously may discuss matters occurring before the grand jury with other grand jurors, but should do so only in the grand jury room.
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/206584.htm
This guy is going to find himself in some real legal trouble himself, if the post is legit. It's always tough to judge the credibility of someone who can't spell or capitalize properly. Thanks for keeping us up to date on this story.