Justia Pennsylvania Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Court reviewed measures taken in an investigation surrounding the leak of protected information related to a convened grand jury. The grand jury was investigating matters relating to a gambling license application; developments in the investigation appeared in the local newspapers. The Court exercised extraordinary jurisdiction on the allegation that information of the grand juryâs deliberations were leaked to the local press. A Special Prosecutor was appointed, and prepared a report finding that âprocedures adopted by the Office of the District Attorney and left uncorrected by the Supervising Judge were inappropriate and set the stage for improper disclosures.â The Court relinquished jurisdiction, ordered the Special Prosecutorâs report unsealed and sent to the Attorney General for further review.