Cheers for Horn AND the sensible Harris County grand jury!
Does this mean there’s hope yet for juries? After OJ and Scooter Libby, I’ve lost a lot of confidence in our jury of peers system.
If I were Horn I’d be more worried about civil liability nonsense than criminal charges. It doesn’t seem terribly surprising that a texas jury was reasonable. If ever there were a place that had juries with their heads on straight, I’m sure texas would be that place.
Grand Juries, especially Texas Grand Juries, are different than Petite "Jury of Peers". Mainly because it's not done in the same adversarila format as a trial. If the DA is not interested in getting an indictment, it's a slam dunk. But in a case like this one, even if he is a Texas Grand Jury is unlikely to indict. The grand jury is selected by "commisionors" in each county, appointed by the district judge. The Judge vetts the jurors, their no "preemptory challenge" procedure, meaning the defense attorny, or the prosecutor, can't blacklist anyone with more brains than a chipmonk.