From the Chronicle:
Disbanded a month before their term was scheduled to end last year, members of a Liberty County grand jury investigating that county's officials want to know why they were taken off the case, according to the foreman.
"We have heard person after person describe unacceptable practices and questionable activities that reek of fraud, collusion, selective investigation and prosecution, and abuse of office personnel and resources by county officials and employees," James Smith wrote in a letter to several judges in December. "We demand an explanation of what is going on here."
The grand jury that Smith presided over began hearing cases in July and was scheduled to run until Dec. 31. On Nov. 27, Beaumont judge Larry Gist signed an order dismissing the panel after reviewing a sealed motion filed by special prosecutor Larry Eastepp.
Because of grand jury secrecy, Smith would not discuss what evidence the body heard or which witnesses were called, but he confirmed he had written letters obtained by the Houston Chronicle and that other grand jurors agree with him.
