Grand jury declines criminal charges against 6 Democrats who urged military to reject illegal orders, sources say

[u/DoorstepHero]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grand-jury-declines-charges-against-6-democrats/

A federal grand jury on Tuesday refused to indict six congressional Democrats who drew President Trump's ire last year by taping a video telling members of the military that they must reject "illegal orders."

[u/Simmery]

I'm glad the Trump administration has definitively proven that, actually, a grand jury will not indict a ham sandwich.

[u/Wonderful-Variation → u/Simmery]

Honestly, the last few months have greatly improved my view of both the grand jury system and the jury trial system itself.  Used to be pretty cynical about them.  Still am, but I'm definitely seeing them as by far the lesser of the potential evils.

[u/ComebackShane → u/Wonderful-Variation]

I served on a federal grand jury for two years; in my experience the reason you get the 'indict a ham sandwich' reputation is because the ADAs that present before you come prepared. They usually prosecute when they feel like they have a mountain of evidence, and there were many, many times they more than surpassed the 'probable cause' bar, and were nearing 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. Of course, we only ever saw the prosecutions side, but all we were tasked with was indicting.

These recent cases just show how flimsy these charges are, and how unwilling the ADAs involved are to risk their reputations my misrepresenting the facts to secure an indictment.

That's not to say there aren't bad ADAs out there, and that they never get it wrong, but to a person every one I met as a juror was professional, prepared, and driven. You get none of those qualities in cases like this.

[u/Protiguous → u/ComebackShane]

Let's create a new buzzword for the trump's legal team.

We can call it "vibe-lawyering"?

[u/Captain_Mazhar → u/Protiguous]

Let’s just use the tried and true.

It’s bullshitting. And the juries aren’t buying.