How the Broadview 6 (-2) Case Collapsed - emptywheel

Defendants sought grand jury transcripts for months, arguing the government’s legal theory did not match the law. A judge allowed the government to file jury instructions for review, then later received transcripts showing three presentments. Legal instruction issues present at the first appearance were corrected before the indictment, but the transcripts were redacted. The judge ordered unredacted copies for a hearing, after which the government dismissed a felony charge, mooting the transcript order. Defendants continued requesting the full transcripts, which were provided. The judge then ordered all prosecutors involved in redacting the transcripts to appear and identified four problems, including vouching and improper communications with grand jurors outside the record.

"For months, the defendants in the Broadview 6 case had been trying to get the transcripts from the grand jury, arguing that DOJ's theory that they had conspired to impede an officer whose car they were accused of blocking did not accord with the law. On April 9, Judge April Perry permitted the government to simply file the jury instructions for her review, rather than responding to the defendants' argument. But the government actually had to get an extension before they did file the transcripts."

"When Judge Perry reviewed the transcripts after receiving them on April 23, she found there were three presentments. And while the instructions on the law were problematic before the first one, it got cleaned up by the time the grand jury returned an indictment. During my review of those transcripts, I did identify some infirmities in the legal instructions that had been provided to the grand jury, at least in regards to the very first grand jury appearance, which was on October 9th, 2025."

"But she also found they were redacted, and so instructed the government to bring unredacted copies to a hearing on April 29. The government dismissed the felony, 18 USC 372, and therefore mooted the transcript order. The defendants, smelling a rat about the redactions, nevertheless persisted in asking for the transcripts. And after the government expressed a willingness to do so, Judge Perry got the full versions earlier this week."

"She almost immediately ordered every AUSA involved in redacting the transcripts to show up to a hearing yesterday. Perry described four problems with the unredacted grand jury transcripts: Vouching, in which a prosecutor invokes her own assurances in lieu of evidence Improper communications with grand jurors outside the gr"

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