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Grand jury meets
230 indictments issued Monday
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
A Henry County grand jury issued about 230 indictments on Monday.
The grand jury completed its work at 5:15 p.m., which is 15 minutes after the courthouse closed for the day, according to Henry County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Bushnell.
Reached after court Monday, Bushnell did not know how many people were indicted on the 230 total charges. Because of the late hour, the information on who was indicted and on what charges will not be available until later today.
About half the indictments where direct, meaning they were not certified at a preliminary hearing, Bushnell said.
After they were read in open court Monday, the direct indictments were sealed until the people indicted are arrested or 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, whichever comes first, according to an order requested by Bushnell and signed by Judge David Williams.
Bushnell states in the order that the “defendants named in such indictments may not expect to be indicted and that temporarily sealing such indictments would improve the ability of police to locate and arrest such defendants and would reduce the risk of witness intimidation.”
Bushnell said the courtroom where names were read was open even though the courthouse itself had closed. He said there was no one present in the room except himself, the bailiffs and court personnel.
An indictment does not indicate guilt. It is a grand jury’s determination that there is enough evidence to hold a trial.
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