IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
WESTERN DISTRICT
IN RE: APPLICATION OF JOSH SHAPIRO, No. 13 WM 2021
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA,
REQUESTING AN ORDER DIRECTING
THAT A SUCCESSOR MULTICOUNTY
INVESTIGATING GRAND JURY HAVING
STATEWIDE JURISDICTION BE
CONVENED
ORDER
AND NOW, this 19th day of March, 2021, upon consideration of the Application of
Josh Shapiro, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it appearing
to the Court that the granting of the Application is appropriate under the Investigating
Grand Jury Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 4541 et seq., it is hereby ORDERED as follows:
1. The Attorney General's Application, requesting that an additional
multicounty investigating grand jury having statewide jurisdiction ("Forty-Eighth Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury") be convened, is hereby GRANTED.
2. The Honorable Anthony M. Mariani, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas,
Fifth Judicial District, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, is hereby designated as
Supervising Judge of the Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury. All
applications and motions relating to the work of the Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating
Grand Jury—including motions for disclosure of grand jury transcripts and evidence—
shall be presented to the Supervising Judge. With respect to investigations,
presentments, reports, and all other proper activities of the Forty-Eighth Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury, Judge Mariani, as Supervising Judge, shall have jurisdiction
over all counties throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Judge Mariani may
temporarily designate another jurist who has been appointed by this Court as the
Supervising Judge of amulticounty investigating grand jury having statewide jurisdiction
to serve as Acting Supervising Judge of the Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating Grand
Jury when Judge Mariani is absent or otherwise unavailable.
3. Allegheny County is designated as the location for the Forty-Eighth
Statewide Investigating Grand Jury proceedings.
4. The Court Administrator of Pennsylvania is directed to draw at random six
counties from the Western District of Pennsylvania pursuant to Rule 241(A)(1) and
241(C)(4) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, and these six counties, plus
Allegheny County, shall together supply jurors for the Forty-Eighth Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury.
5. The Court Administrator of Pennsylvania is directed to obtain the names
and addresses of persons residing in the aforesaid counties who are eligible by law to
serve as grand jurors pursuant to Rule 241(A)(2) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal
Procedure.
6. The total of such names of prospective jurors to be collected shall be two
hundred, of which fifty shall be selected at random and summoned by the Court
Administrator of Pennsylvania to Allegheny County. The Supervising Judge shall impanel
the Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury from this panel of fifty prospective
jurors. If it becomes necessary, additional prospective jurors shall be summoned by the
Supervising Judge from among the remaining one hundred fifty prospective jurors.
7. The Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury will remain in session
for not more than eighteen months following the date that it is impaneled by the
Supervising Judge.
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8. The Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or his
designee in charge of the Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, may apply, if
necessary, to the Supervising Judge for an extension of the term of the Forty-Eighth
Statewide Investigating Grand Jury for an additional period of up to six months, if, at the
end of its original term, the Investigating Grand Jury determines by majority vote that it
has not completed its business. The Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury's
term, including any extension, shall not exceed twenty-four months from the date it was
originally impaneled by the Supervising Judge.
9. The Supervising Judge shall maintain control of transcripts and evidence,
as provided by Rule 229 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. The
Supervising Judge shall determine the manner and location with respect to storage of
transcripts. The Supervising Judge shall control disclosure of matters occurring before
the Forty-Eighth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, as provided by 42 Pa.C.S. §4549.
10. The Supervising Judge shall have the same duties and powers relating to
maintaining grand jury secrecy with respect to each expired multicounty investigating
grand jury having statewide jurisdiction that had convened in Allegheny County or any
other county identified in Rule 241(C)(4).
THOMAS G. SAYL
Chief Justice of Pennsylvania
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