Brandon Jenkins
RICHLAND CO.—We have just learned that there is a grand jury proceeding underway in Richland County for the case against Brandon Jenkins, the Houston man who has been charged with murdering Michael Scott Earp.
Disclosure was alerted by a reader who had a source in the courthouse in Olney, attending to another matter. The doors to the main courtroom are locked and are being guarded by Richland sheriff Andy Hires. The courtroom is reportedly busy, with people both inside and out, indicating that there are proceedings going on within. As well, members of the Earp clan, including pugilistic Flavius, babymomma Cara Jane Bohannon, and one of the girls involved in the catfight the night of the shooting, Liza Miller, were waiting in the atrium outside the courtroom.
Disclosure spoke with both the Richland County Circuit Clerk’s office and the state’s attorney’s office. Neither person with whom we spoke in either office could confirm or deny the presence of a grand jury in the courthouse, as grand jury proceedings are supposed to be secret. However, Circuit Clerk Sandy Franklin did confirm that there is no preliminary hearing going on in the Jenkins case today, nor has one been scheduled for today. For those who know their way around the court system, you’ll know that grand jury indictments preclude the need for a preliminary hearing. A prelim is a hearing in which both the prosecution and defense can present witnesses in order to prove or disprove enough evidentiary material/testimony to either bind a person over for trial, or have charges against him be dismissed. The threshold for “proof” is very low in a prelim, and more often than not, the charge is upheld and the case moves on to the next step. However, with a skilled attorney, the accused could potentially have charges against him dismissed IF THE CHARGES ARE WORDED INCORRECTLY ACCORDING TO THE EVIDENCE.
This is what many believe Richland County state’s attorney David Hyde has done in the case of Jenkins, by charging him with a single count of First-Degree Murder in the death of Earp in that Jenkins shot Earp “with intent to kill him” in the early morning hours of June 20. It’s believed that Jenkins’ defense will be that he did not murder with intent, but fired a weapon only in self-defense, as he was surrounded by three MMA fighters who were threatening him with extreme physical harm, as they have done countless people in the past several years. “Intent” and “self-defense” often cross fine lines in the state of Illinois, unfortunately. The pivot point in this case will likely be two things: What Jenkins believed at the moment he drew the weapon and fired, and what the history of the dead man shows as his actions he took leading up to the moment he was fired upon.
We’ve not been advised that Jenkins’ attorney, John O’Gara of Belleville, is present, but in a grand jury proceeding, he can be, as can be the defendant. Grand juries can go either way; you can indict a rock, but that can mean little when it comes down to trial time. Unfortunately for Jenkins, the Earp group has had a number of weeks to get their stories together and are perfectly capable of sitting and lying to a grand jury with straight faces. Jenkins himself might do well to take the stand in front of the grand jury and tell what really happened. There is no judge present in a grand jury; it’s just 16 people (not 12; that’s a petit jury, for state trials) and the prosecutor, who directs all the action…making it somewhat lopsided. What can always be hoped-for is that there are sensible people among the 16. What is often feared is that since a grand jury is seated every so many months (18 if we’re remembering correctly), these people can often be ‘hand picked’ by the prosecution, and encouraged to “see things his way.”
We hope to have more information for you on the outcome of it by day’s end…if not, we’ll have it in the next print version, on stands beginning next week with a street date of December 21…don’t miss it, and don’t forget to get out and pick up THIS month’s issue on stands in select locations right now, as they are selling fast and are sold out in many locations.