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...IT’S JUST THE LAW
equivalent.” ROR means released on
a handshake promise to appear. “Ten
percent equivalent” means that if the
citizen posts ten percent of the amount
of the bond, he gets out. If he appears at
trial, he gets the ten percent bond back.
As this is the amount bondsmen charge,
they hate this program.
If bond remains too high following arraignment,
it can be addressed in more
detail at a bond hearing set for that purpose.
Before forcing a citizen to spend vast
sums for a trial, and perhaps months in
jail awaiting trial, the government must
first prove it has a good reason. There are
two ways to bind a defendant over for a
trial; preliminary hearing and grand jury
hearing. Both must be before a “neutral
magistrate.” Arraignment will be followed
within a month by a preliminary
hearing. Such hearings may be set earlier
for incarcerated defendants. The
purpose of the preliminary, known as
the “prelim” by denizens of the system,
is to protect the citizen by determining
if there is any evidence supporting
the charges brought by the police and
prosecutor. Specifically, the judge at the
hearing must determine if there is some
reason to believe a crime was committed
and some reason to believe the guest of
honor committed it. While a theoretical
safeguard, very few defendants win preliminary
hearings. The preliminary hearing
is an opportunity for the defense to
learn something about the prosecution
case. Defendants may be asked to waive
preliminary hearing. If they do not, the
case will be presented to a Grand Jury,
the defendant re-arrested and forced to
post another bail bond.
Some prosecutor’s offices avoid preliminary
hearings through indictments
before the Grand Jury. Grand Juries
are secret proceedings where only the
prosecutor produces evidence. The defendant
has no right to introduce evidence,
and may not even know that he
is a subject of interest. While very few
defendants win preliminary hearings,
virtually no defendant wins a Grand Jury
hearing. The saying is that a Grand Jury
will indict a ham sandwich. There was
an instance of a Texas Ranger who killed
an assailant in the city street, while the
Grand Jury watched from the second
floor of the Courthouse. With this first
hand information, they returned a “No
True Bill” (no crime) before his wounds
were treated. 2 This is not something the
average citizen can expect. In the old “LA
Law” series a lawyer killed an assailant,
voluntarily appeared before the Grand
Jury and was exonerated. This series was
fiction. There is a name for persons appearing
before a Grand Jury in the naïve
belief that they only need to tell the
truth, they are called “inmates.” The
Grand Jurors will be indoctrinated by
the prosecutor. There is no beating this
system. It is ironic that Grand Juries are
The defendant has
no right to introduce
evidence, and may not
even know that he is a
subject of interest.
constitutionally guaranteed, in the federal
system, but preliminary hearings are
more to the defense benefit.
If a defendant wins a preliminary
hearing, or the prosecutor does not
press the grand jury to return an indictment,
this usually, but does not always,
end the matter. Double jeopardy does
not apply unless a trial jury is selected. A
prosecutor may therefore take a case lost
at preliminary hearing or which a grand
jury has returned a “No True Bill,” and
re-submit the matter to the grand jury
as often as desired. It is wise not to spark
that desire.
After shooting four muggers in a New
York subway, Bernard Goetz won his first
trip to the grand jury; he then, however,
made the politically incorrect suggestion
that guns be distributed to civilians.
His lawyer, on “Face the Nation” stated
that Mr. Goetz felt no remorse about the
shootings. A neighbor alleged that he
had made racist statements. Any one of
these statements would have aroused
criticism of the prosecution; together
they inspired a full-scale effort to send
Mr. Goetz to prison. 3 A new grand jury
was given an improper definition of selfdefense,
and indicted Mr. Goetz for everything
the prosecution requested.
On 11 October, 1981 a man entered
a tavern and attacked two patrons with
a hatchet; he was promptly shot and
killed. The following day the Kansas City
Star described the assailant as the “victim,”
and the man who defended himself
as the “gunman,” a la Billy the Kid.
This terminology stands law and common
sense on its head. Unfortunately,
this terminology has been common in
the media. Following a defensive gun
use the media will give the “gunman” an
“opportunity to tell his side of the story.”
One homicide detective referred to them
as “vultures.” They thrive on sensationalism,
which is never good for the defense.
It may be useful to tell the truth, but
simply telling the truth rarely helps, it is
how the truth is told that makes it useful.
Lawyers are authorities on how to tell the
truth.
A suspect has the absolute right to
an attorney at any step in the criminal
justice system under the sixth (and
fourteenth) amendment to the U.S.
Constitution. No matter how innocent
the citizen might be, no matter how
knowledgeable, an attorney is required.
For a layman to search for justice in the
thickets of the law is akin to going on safari
without equipment, with no idea of
what the game looks like and no guide
where game might be found. H
Kevin L. Jamison is an attorney in the
Kansas City Missouri area concentrating
in the area of weapons and self-defense.
Please send questions to Kevin L.
Jamison 2614 NE 56 th Ter Gladstone
Missouri 64119-2311 KLJamisonLaw@
earthlink.net. Individual answers are not
usually possible but may be addressed in
future columns.
This information is for legal information
purposes and does not constitute
legal advice. For specific questions you
should consult a qualified attorney.
1. The conundrum of calling the police and at the same time remaining silent is discussed in Alan Korwin’s After You Shoot, Bloomfield Press Scottsdale, AZ
2011. An evaluation of this work is forthcoming.
2. Jenkins & Frost I’M FRANK HAMER, State House Press, Austin Texas 1993 at 72.
3. Fletcher A CRIME OF SELF DEFENSE, The Free Press, N.Y. 1988 at 5.
MAY/JUNE 2011 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
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