The 1,500-page transcript of the grand jury proceedings are by rule to be made public Monday, 10 days after the defense has received the documents, Sonoma County Superior Court officials said. Blount receives a fair trial,” Stern said in the motion filed in Sonoma County Superior Court. “This case, at this time, presents a recipe for such heightened news coverage and widespread emotional reaction to it, such that the Court must take unusual measures to ensure that Mr. The attorney, Harry Stern, asked the judge to consider what he described as a political climate with “overt animosity toward law enforcement” and keen local interest in the case that transformed Blount from a private individual into a “celebrity defendant.” Transcripts of the rare proceedings are automatically unsealed and available for public review 10 days after they are delivered to the defendant’s legal team.īut Blount’s attorney filed a 22-page motion Monday asking Judge Robert LaForge to delay releasing transcripts of the grand jury proceedings until the trial had concluded, arguing it could taint the views of potential jurors and imperil Blount’s right to an impartial jury. The 19-member secret panel, which convened in October, decided a criminal trial was warranted after it met behind closed doors to hear evidence about the death of the Bloomfield man, who died in a struggle with Blount after a high-speed chase. Former Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy Charles Blount is asking a judge to keep secret the evidence and testimony against him that led a criminal grand jury to indict him on felony involuntary manslaughter and assault charges in the 2019 death of David Ward.
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