In Re: Applic of AG Successor Multicounty IGJ (52) ( 2023 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
MIDDLE DISTRICT
IN RE: APPLICATION OF MICHELLE A. : No. 69 MM 2023
HENRY, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE :
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, :
REQUESTING AN ORDER DIRECTING :
THAT A SUCCESSOR MULTICOUNTY :
INVESTIGATING GRAND JURY HAVING :
STATEWIDE JURISDICTION BE :
CONVENED :
ORDER
AND NOW, this 9th day of June, 2023, upon consideration of the Application
Requesting an Order Directing that a Successor Multicounty Investigating Grand Jury
Having Statewide Jurisdiction be Convened, and as it appears that granting the
Application is appropriate under the Investigating Grand Jury Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 4541 et
seq., it is hereby ORDERED as follows:
1. The Application, requesting that an additional multicounty investigating
grand jury having statewide jurisdiction (“Fifty-Second Statewide Investigating Grand
Jury”) be convened, is hereby GRANTED.
2. The Honorable Richard A. Lewis, Twelfth Judicial District, Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania, is designated as Supervising Judge of the Fifty-Second Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury. All applications and motions relating to the work of the Fifty-
Second Statewide Investigating Grand Jury — including motions for disclosure of grand
jury transcripts and evidence — shall be presented to the Supervising Judge. With
respect to investigations, presentments, reports, and all other proper activities of the Fifty-
Second Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, Judge Lewis, as Supervising Judge, shall
have jurisdiction over all counties throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Judge
Lewis may temporarily designate another jurist who has been appointed by this Court as
the Supervising Judge of a multicounty investigating grand jury having statewide
jurisdiction to serve as Acting Supervising Judge of the Fifty-Second Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury when Judge Lewis is absent or otherwise unavailable.
3. Dauphin County is designated as the location for the Fifty-Second
Statewide Investigating Grand Jury proceedings.
4. The Court Administrator of Pennsylvania is directed to draw six counties at
random from the Middle District of Pennsylvania pursuant to the provisions of Rule 241
(A)(1) and 241(C)(3) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, and these six
counties, plus Dauphin, shall together supply jurors for the Fifty-Second Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury.
5. The Court Administrator of Pennsylvania is directed to obtain the names
and addresses of persons residing in the aforesaid counties who are eligible by law to
serve as grand jurors pursuant to the provisions of Rule 241(A)(2) of the Pennsylvania
Rules of Criminal Procedure.
6. The total of such names of prospective jurors to be collected shall be 200,
of which 50 shall be selected at random and summoned by the Court Administrator of
Pennsylvania to Dauphin County. The Supervising Judge shall impanel the Fifty-Second
Statewide Investigating Grand Jury from this panel of 50 prospective jurors. If it becomes
necessary, additional prospective jurors shall be summoned by the Supervising Judge
from among the remaining 150 prospective jurors.
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7. The Fifty-Second Statewide Investigating Grand Jury will remain in session
for not more than 18 months following the date that it is impaneled by the Supervising
Judge.
8. The Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or the
Attorney General’s designee in charge of the Fifty-Second Statewide Investigating Grand
Jury, if necessary, may apply to the Supervising Judge for an extension of the term of the
Fifty-Second Statewide Investigating Grand Jury for an additional period of up to six
months, if, at the end of its original term, the Investigating Grand Jury determines by
majority vote that it has not completed its business. The Fifty-Second Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury’s term, including any extension thereof, shall not exceed 24
months from the date it was originally impaneled by the Supervising Judge.
9. The Supervising Judge shall maintain control of transcripts and evidence,
as provided by Rule 229 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. The
Supervising Judge shall determine the manner and location with respect to storage of
transcripts. The Supervising Judge shall control disclosure of matters occurring before
the Fifty-Second Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, as provided by 42 Pa.C.S. § 4549.
10. The Supervising Judge shall have the same duties and powers relating to
maintaining grand jury secrecy with respect to each expired multicounty investigating
grand jury having statewide jurisdiction that had convened in Dauphin County or any other
county identified in Rule 241(C)(3) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.
DEBRA TODD
Chief Justice of Pennsylvania
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