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Absence of grand jurors puts indictments on hold

By Carey Phillips
The Jackson County Grand Jury did not meet as scheduled Monday (Jan. 31) due to a lack of potential panelists.

Left on hold were potential indictments for a man charged with first-degree murder and six teenagers charged in connection with the detonation of pipe bombs on school property.

Nine new grand jury members were to be selected from a pool of jurors called for a session of Jackson County Civil Superior Court. However, only 24 potential jurors showed up prompting Judge Charles Lamm to cancel the grand jury session.

Reasons most often cited for the jurors who failed to appear were the inability to leave home due to the weather and no one available to stay with their children since Jackson County schools were closed.

Lamm felt the entire pool of those who showed up might be needed for civil cases. Eight of the nine returning grand jury members were on hand, and the other's absence was excused.

Jason Graybill of Boston was indicted for first-degree murder by the grand jury on Dec. 13. That indictment was declared invalid because the grand jurors were released before they could be polled. The poll was required since the case could involve capital punishment. The case was to have been taken up again Monday but is now expected to be considered Feb. 21.

Monday's grand jury session was also expected to consider indictments against six teenagers charged in connection with the December detonation of pipe bombs at the construction site of the new Scotts Creek School. The group includes 17-year-olds P.T. Parker, Josh Haddock, Matt Breedlove and Travis Shepard, all of Sylva, Jennifer Parker of Cullowhee and Andrew MacRae of Whittier.

They face felony charges including possession of weapons of mass destruction, possession of a weapon on school property and conspiracy. Their cases are on the Feb. 8 calendar for probable cause hearings in Jackson County District Court; however, those hearings could be continued with the grand jury scheduled to consider indictments Feb. 21.

Charges against a 15-year-old in the pipe bomb case are being handled by the juvenile justice system. Since he is a minor, his name has not been released.

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