Names of grand jury witnesses required on indictment; exception; effect of failure to include; procedure to remedy failure.

Checkout our iOS App for a better way to browser and research.


(2)(a) An indictment may include a pseudonym, initials or other signifier instead of the name of a witness examined before the grand jury if:

(A) The witness is also a victim of a sex crime as defined in ORS 163A.005 alleged in the indictment;

(B) A separate document containing the name of the witness and the corresponding pseudonym, initials or other signifier is filed with the clerk of the court at the same time as the indictment is filed; and

(C) A copy of the document described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph is provided to the defense attorney or, if the defendant does not have a lawyer, in accordance with paragraph (c) of this subsection, at the time of arraignment on the indictment.

(b) The defense attorney may orally inform the defendant of the name of the witness contained in the document described in paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection but may not provide a copy of the document to the defendant.

(c) If a defendant is not represented by a lawyer, the district attorney shall provide a copy of the document described in paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection to the defendant. At the time of providing the document, the court shall enter an order prohibiting the defendant from copying the document or providing the document to any other person.

(d) The document described in paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection is confidential with respect to any person who is not a party to the case. At any time during the proceeding the court may, upon a finding of good cause, order that the document is not confidential. Once the final judgment on the case is entered, the document is no longer confidential.

(3) A witness examined before the grand jury whose name is not indorsed on the indictment shall not be permitted to testify at trial without the consent of the defendant, unless the court finds that:

(a) The name of the witness was omitted from the indictment by inadvertence;

(b) The name of the witness was furnished to the defendant by the state at least 10 days before trial; and

(c) The defendant will not be prejudiced by the omission. [Amended by 1973 c.836 §59; 1995 c.126 §2; 2003 c.645 §8; 2019 c.338 §2]


Download our app to see the most-to-date content.