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Has Ward's family said anything publicly to the effect that they hold Stewart responsible or want to press charges?

Otherwise I really don't see what's different between this and any other case where someone has run in front of a car on a live track. But those generally don't go to a grand jury.

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Perhaps there is some significant evidence (additional footage?) the investigators have that the public doesn't.

Otherwise, this is a bit of a surprise.

Hopefully the grand jury is selected well. I'm assuming it will be made up of upstate NY peeps.

Yes, a few members of Ward's family have said that they hold Stewart responsible, mostly his dad who has been pretty vocal about the matter, so charges being filed are not a surprise here. It will be difficult to prove intent though, the video evidence so far has been inconclusive, and the second video is likely from the track videographer who would have a similar angle to the first. It may come down to witnesses, presumably the other drivers involved in the race but they have been pretty split on who was at fault based on the interviews I have seen.

Has Chuck Hebing said anything publicly? He was the car in front of Stewart, IIRC.

Not that I'm aware, though one of his crew member's had tweeted shortly after the accident that Chuck had said he just barely avoided hitting Ward himself, so it is probably reasonable to think that Hebing would side with it being an accident.

Sounds like someone in the D.A. either wants their 15 minutes of fame, or doesn't want the responsibility of making the decision, so hey, just chuck it to a Jury to decide, after all Jury's are such level headed individuals that always make the right decisions*

*IMHO Jury's are made up of people not knowledgeable enough to get out of doing the service, i.e. not exactly the brightest bunch.

Let's ignore that tiny bit there at the end for a minute, lest you ever be in a position where your life is determined by not the brightest bunch...

You can't get an indictment without a grand jury. That's the whole point of it. Evidence is gathered, brought before a grand jury, the grand jury either indicts on the charge (or charges) or it doesn't. In this case, if indicted a bench warrant would be issued for Stewarts arrest and there would be a trial.

I know our justice system can be fucked up sometimes but there are rules to this stuff for a reason. In this case the DA is smart. Why go off half cocked and arrest/charge Stewart only to not get an indictment and have to let him go anyway. Go get the indictment first, then arrest him.

Yes let's ignore that lol, I don't understand your legal system so let me try and explain how I see it...

The D.A. has three choices, they can rule no criminal charges and close the case, they can decide TS was responsible and charge him, or if undecided, they can put the evidence to a Grand Jury and let them decide if he should be charged, right?

So by putting it to a Jury first, if it later goes pear shaped and TS is found not guilty and the ensuing, obvious shitstorm starts, they can come back and say well "we presented the evidence to the Jury and it was they who decided to run with it".

Right? We call that passing the buck or shirting responsibility, not being sensible, if there is doubt over his guilt, you don't run with it until you can prove it beyond reasonable doubt, if you pass the buck, it usually ends badly.

Sort of... Here's how it works in New York...

New York

In New York State, while a person can initially be charged with a felony via a sworn written accusation alone (a "felony complaint"),[31] the state constitution provides a defendant with a right to have all felonies prosecuted by way of a grand jury indictment.[32] This right can be waived by a defendant, who can then be prosecuted using an indictment substitute called a "superior court information."[33] Grand juries are composed of between 16 and 23 jurors (16 being a quorum for all proceedings) and indictments require a minimum vote of 12 such jurors.[34] Grand juries may produce not only indictments but may direct the filing of misdemeanor charges in local courts, the removal of cases to Family Court, and may also issue “grand jury reports” concerning malfeasance of public officials and recommending their discipline.[35]

Both the prosecutor and the grand jury itself have the right to call witnesses to testify before the grand jury.[36] With few exceptions, every witness who testifies before a grand jury receives transactional immunity automatically, whether they invoke their right to silence or not.[37] If a grand jury is considering criminal charges against a person, that person has a right to testify before that grand jury, provided they make a timely written demand and then agree to waive their right to immunity.[38] Despite this fact, an unwitting target of a grand jury proceeding has no right to be informed that their case is even being considered by a grand jury in the first place, unless they have already been arraigned on a felony complaint charging a related crime and are awaiting a preliminary hearing on that complaint.[39] A defendant held in the state may testify to the grand jury.[39]

Basically, the point of the whole escapade comes down to whether or not a Grand Jury finds there to be enough evidence to charge Stewart with something. The DA determines what charges can be brought, the Grand Jury decides whether or not there is enough evidence to put forth the charge. The idea is that it couldn't become a witch hunt where a DA, or the municiplaity, goes off the deep end to try and convict someone. It was meant to be a safe guard for the accused against unreasonable investigation/prosecution.

It might also be worth noting that the US, according to Wiki, is the last common law country to use a Grand Jury.

Seems like a sensible route to take then, thanks, I assume not all states use them though?

It sounds like the D.A. is trying to avoid being accused of favouritism towards Smoke though more so than thinking a case is worth perusing.

We stopped using Grand Jury's when the Administration of Justice Act came into force, it basically says if a prosecution is not in the public interest, the case won't go ahead, our "Crown" has been hiding behind this for years to avoid certain prosecutions.

I believe all the states have their own form of Grand Jury. As is the case here, State Law is not universal and the specifics of each state Jury process may be and most certainly are different. But yes, they all have some form of it.

The Fedeal Government also has Federal Grand Juries to be used in Fedeal Court.

I guess we'll find out the results at 3pm EST today.

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Gael

That quickly?

Yeaa it is fast.

Not going to face criminal charges according to TMZ, but I suppose he's still liable to being sued by Wards family?

That's my guess, yeah. I guess they can't appeal a grand jury decision, so they'd have to file a civil suit, or something along those lines.

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Gael

The right decision has been made. Sucks for Ward and his family, it really does, but sometimes life just isn't fair.

and


Jeez.

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Gael

Haha.. apparently Ward likes to Smoke too.. As he was high as a kite when he ran out in front of Stewart. Tony walks free.