Dig Deeper When Hearing Scott Walker Not John Doe "Target"
As the MAL Contends blog correctly points out, John Doe investigations in Wisconsin do not use the term "target."
Federal grand juries in Wisconsin (and other states) do designate and notify targets as "putative defendants," state grand juries in other states designate targets.
In Wisconsin John Doe probes do not designate targets.
The John Doe statute authorizes a law enforcement investigation conducted with the compulsory authority of a quasi-judicial hearing to look into if and by whom crimes have been committed, precisely to determine whether someone should become a target of a criminal complaint on the basis of the facts and testimony gathered in the probe.
In fact, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has specifically recognized that the John Doe statute does not even "require that a witness be advised as to the nature of the proceeding," and does not require that the gathering of evidence and testimony reaches a point when someone must to be advised he or she becomes an effective target of the John Doe investigation, likely to be served a criminal complaint. (Ryan v. Wisconsin, (79 Wis.2d 83 (1977)).
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I just found this on the internet:
CHICAGO – Here is what you need to know about tomorrow’s John Doe oral arguments in Downtown Chicago.
Oral arguments will take place at 2:30 PM on Tuesday at the Ceremonial Courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Building in Downtown Chicago.
An audio recording of the oral arguments will be made available to the press and the public as soon the oral arguments have been completed.
Media will be allowed to observe the case but are not allowed to use electronic devices to cover the arguments via social media.
The time allotted for oral arguments will be 20 minutes for the attorneys representing five intervenors in the case, 10 minutes for the attorneys representing the two unnamed intervernors, and ten minutes for attorneys representing Special Prosecutor Francis Schmitz and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. The five intervenors are the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, American Society of Newspaper Editors, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The three judges who are assigned to hear the arguments will be released on Tuesday morning.
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