Nashville DA says grand jury foreman was felon

Friday, January 25, 2013, Vol. 37, No. 4

NASHVILLE (AP) - Nashville's top prosecutor says he is expecting a flood of appeals because a 2011 grand jury foreman was a felon.

Under Tennessee law, people who have felony convictions are ineligible for jury service.

More than 900 indictments were returned by the grand jury during Eugene Grayer's term as foreman.

About 700 of those cases have been resolved, mostly on guilty pleas. About 90 of those cases are still pending.

District Attorney Torry Johnson said at a Thursday news conference that prosecutors have been working to repair the pending cases - either by getting new indictments or using a criminal information, which bypasses the grand jury,

Johnson said ultimately state appeals courts will have to decide whether the indictments are valid because of Grayer's 35-year-old conviction arising from a theft scheme. He could not be reached for comment.