ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call
August 24, 2018
By Steve Esack
[See also a copy of the Supreme Court ruling.]
Harrisburg – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has tweaked secrecy rules related to how defense lawyers can share testimony or evidence related to clients called before grand juries.
The 5-2 ruling issued Tuesday stemmed from a legal dispute that arose during the statewide grand jury investigation of clergy child sex abuse in six Catholic dioceses, including Allentown. The justices ruled that a grand jury nondisclosure form, created by the attorney general’s office, unfairly muzzled defense lawyers’ rights and their abilities to serve their clients.
The ruling allows defense lawyers to seek their clients’ permission to publicly share the content and scope of their testimony to the grand jury, which operates in private. Witnesses have always been permitted to disclose their own testimony.
“The obligation of confidentially generally extends to all matters occurring before the grand jury, which includes, but is not limited to, what transpires in a grand jury room,” wrote Chief Justice Thomas Saylor. “A lawyer otherwise subject to secrecy, however, may disclose a client’s own testimony to the extent that the client would otherwise be free to do so under applicable law.”
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