PHOENIX (AP) - Prosecutors must notify a grand jury when a defendant sends a letter outlining a defense so that jurors can decide whether to see the letter, according to an Arizona court decision.
The Court of Appeals issued its ruling Tuesday in a case involving Chung Trinh, a psychiatry practice’s co-owner awaiting trial on charges of practicing medicine without a license and other crimes.
The ruling said a Maricopa County Superior Court judge rejected Trinh’s request to order the grand jury to reconsider whether there was probable cause to indict Tring after prosecutors didn’t disclose the existence of Trinh’s letter.
The prosecution argued that it didn’t have to disclose the letter’s existence to the grand jury because Trinh wasn’t offering to testify and because the letter didn’t present clear evidence indicating that Trinh was innocent.
The appeals court rejected the prosecution’s non-disclosure of the letter, saying that undermined the grand jury’s independence.
But the ruling also said to let stand the existing indictment’s charges against Tring because the prosecution’s presentation included most of Trinh’s assertions and because the grand jury decided probable cause, not guilt.
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