|
Grand jury indicts 4 By DANIEL K. LAI Four residents of East Williamson County have been indicted by a grand jury for various crimes, according to Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley's office. Hutto resident Jerry Alvin Bertleson, 31, was indicted on two counts of indecency with a child. Hutto resident Derek Domingo, 28, was indicted on two counts of sexual assault of a child. Mario Alberto Abundiz, 20, of Taylor was indicted on one count of aggravated sexual assault. Taylor resident Jason Peace, 20, was indicted on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to Bradley, state prosecutors go before a 12-member grand jury formed by a district judge to present their case against a defendant in order to obtain an indictment. “The rules of evidence don't apply in a grand jury hearing,” he said. “The grand jury only decides if there is enough evidence to prove probable cause in a crime. They are not there to determine guilt or innocence.” Once a state prosecutor acquires all the information they think they need to indict a suspect, whether the individual is in jail or not, they present the findings to the grand jury, Bradley said. “On average it's pretty quick,” he said. “The process used to take a lot longer but in Williamson County we created a Direct File System where even before they are indicted, a defendant is filed into the district court system, which allows us to begin collecting evidence.” Bradley said if an individual is arrested and in jail, the DA's office has up to 90 days to acquire an indictment. If they are not arrested, prosecutors have up to six months. Once evidence is brought to the grand jury, action can only be taken if nine or more members are present. “They can only vote to true bill the case, no bill the case or pass,” Bradley said. “If they ‘true bill' it, they essentially determine there is enough evidence to proceed to trial and court. If they vote to ‘no bill' it, that generally means there is not enough evidence to proceed and the case is dropped. If the jury decides to pass, that requires the prosecutor to go out and collect more evidence and bring it back at a later date.” Bradley said one in five cases in the county are resolved without an indictment or trial. “Defendants can agree to ... confess to the crime and accept their punishment, whatever that might be,” he said. “That is a tremendous savings of money for the county. “Obviously, the more serious crimes such as sexual assault or homicide don't get resolved that way.”
|
