Goldinger approached about July 13 grand jury
Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger said he has been approached by people living in and outside of the county about a petition to impanel an investigative grand jury to delve into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at his July 13 campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds.
The shooting resulted in the death of one spectator, the injury of two others and Trump, and the death of would-be assassin Thomas Michael Crooks of Bethel Park.
Goldinger said he hasn’t seen the petition and declined to identify those who approached him, but he said the public circulation of the petition asking the president county judge to convene an investigative grand jury defeats the purpose of such a jury.
“These are not supposed to be public. The point is to investigate without publicity and public pressure,” Goldinger said Wednesday.
Despite that, Goldinger said he hasn’t ruled out submitting such a request to President Judge S. Michael Yeager.
State law authorizes county district attorneys and the state attorney general to petition president County Common Pleas Court judges to convene investigative grand juries and empowers president Common Pleas Court judges to convene such juries on their own initiative.
The law gives the judges 10 days to respond to those petitions. Denied petitions can be appealed to the state Supreme Court, according to information from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
A president judge’s order to convene an investigative grand jury on his or her own initiative can be stayed if the district attorney or attorney general certify that the jury is not necessary at the time.
“I am aware of the petition,” Goldinger said. “I have also been approached about considering this because I have the authority to do it. At this point I am simply weighing all options.”
If an investigative grand jury was impaneled, Goldinger said he would not announce it and the court order to summon the jury would be sealed.
“I would not make a public announcement. If it were done, it would be done under seal. This is not something people would know about,” Goldinger said.
He pointed out that county taxpayers would ultimately foot the bill for the cost of the jury.
Yeager’s office referred questions about the petition to the court administration office and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
Candace Graff, court administrator, said her office hasn’t received a petition.
“We haven’t seen anything,” Graff said. “We have nothing.”
Stacey Witalec, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts spokesperson, said the office did not know about any effort to convene an investigative grand jury to look into the July 13 rally and has not received a petition.
