People v. Banks

Defendant, a 50-year-old male, has been indicted for the crime of carnal abuse of a five-year-old female child contrary to section 483-a of the Penal Law, a felony. Defendant’s counsel has moved to inspect the minutes of the Grand Jury, pursuant to section 952-t of the Code of Criminal Procedure, preparatory to a motion to dismiss the indictment. The contention is that the bill is not supported by sufficient legal evidence.

The policy of the law, long established, is to surround proceedings of the Grand Jury with a cloak of secrecy. This must be so not only to prevent revealing the…