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Special counsel Robert Mueller (L) arrives at the U.S. Capitol for closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong Getty Images

Washington is all abuzz that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has empaneled a grand jury in furtherance of his investigation into whether or not Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia. In spite of the inevitable speculation this creates, its worth remembering that a grand jury is a powerful investigative tool, but not a criminal charge. So what is the significance of a grand jury convening?

A grand jury has the power to subpoena both witnesses and documents, such as bank records and phone records. Refusal to comply with a subpoena, which has the force of a court order, without a legal basis creates the risk of the subpoena recipient being held in contempt of court and subject to criminal or civil penalties.

Legal privileges, such as the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, are a basis for a witness to refuse to testify. The only way to get around a legally applicable privilege would be to seek an order of immunity, which would protect the witness from criminal exposure and therefore render the Fifth Amendment inapplicable. Perhaps the most famous immunized witness in past independent counsel investigations is Monica Lewinsky; its easy to forget that former national security advisor Michael Flynns lawyer offered his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee if he received immunity, where anything said could not be used against him in a criminal proceeding. The Committee, perhaps anticipating a prosecutors eventual interest in Flynn, declined.

Moreover, certain evidence, such asyes, Mr. Presidenttax returns, are considered more private than others, and cannot be obtained via subpoena. Rather, Mueller would need to seek an order from a judge to obtain Trumps tax returns, a wiretap, or a pen register, for instance.

Unlike Congressional hearings, in which sworn testimony is public, grand jury investigations are secret by law. This secrecy rule is demonstrated by the fact that Muellers grand jury has apparently been working for several weeks, but was only reported in the media yesterday. Prosecutors, law enforcement, and grand jury members themselves are barred from discussing grand jury proceedings. The reasons for this are twofold: First, publicity can cripple an ongoing covert investigation; second, grand jury investigations are secret to protect subjects of an investigation who may or may not ultimately be charged.

Grand jury witnesses, however, are not subject to the secrecy rules. So any legal reports from the grand jury room will come from the witnesses.

Grand juries, like Congress, can issue subpoenas. Unlike Congress, they can vote to criminally indict the subjects of their investigations. The purpose of empaneling a grand jury is to gather and assess the weight of the evidence. It does not mean that there exists enough evidence to amount to proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the standard for a conviction, or probable cause, which is the standard the grand jury must find in order to vote to indict. Given the grand jury secrecy rules described above, there is no way for the public to know with certainty how much evidence Mueller has amassed, or its value in a criminal case. So the smart money wont bet on criminal charges by the mere fact of empanelment alone.

In summary, empaneling a grand jury is consistent with Muellers reputation as a lawyer and investigator: a meticulous and thorough officer of the court who is committed to accuracy and the rule of law. But the grand jurys existence doesnt amount to a criminal charge, and it definitely doesnt equate a criminal conviction. As were whipsawed by Washington, its worth taking a page from Muellers book, and following the evidence where it leads.

Juliet S. Sorensen is a clinical associate professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She is the co-author of Public Corruption and the Law: Cases and Materials (West Academic 2017).

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Why Robert Mueller's Grand Jury Isn't Really a Big Deal - Fortune

Xconomy New York

After days of deliberation, a New York jury Friday afternoon found Martin Shkreli guilty of securities fraud.

According to a report from CNBC, the jury in the civil case said that Shkreli is guilty on three of eight counts, two of which are securities fraud and the other conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Shkreli, according to the CNBC report, could face up to 20 years in prison upon his sentencing. Shkreli was charged with conspiracy for bilking investors in his New York-based hedge funds, MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare, and looting his own biotech firm, Retrophin (NASDAQ: RTRX), to cover investments gone wrong at MSMB.

Those actions took place from 2009 to 2014, according to the government. Shkreli left Retrophin in September 2014, and the company filed suit against him soon after. Many of those allegations lined up with the charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Shkreli and his lawyer, Evan Greebel, in late 2015.

By then, Shkreli was running a new company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, and had gained worldwide notoriety as the pharma bro for raising the price of pyrimethamine (Daraprim), an off-patent drug often used by people with HIV to ward off parasitic infections, from $13.50 to $750 a pill. Shkreli compounded the backlash by taunting his critics and showboating on social media.

Shkreli left Turing after his arrest. He also got the boot from KaloBios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KBIO), a Bay Area biotech that Shkreli and allies had grabbed in a hostile takeover. Under Shkreli, KaloBios had designs to buy a drug for Chagas disease, which is endemic to Latin America, and raise its prices to levels comparable to hepatitis C drugsthat is, in the neighborhood of $80,000 a year.

At a Congressional hearing on drug pricing in early 2016, Shkreli pleaded the fifth amendment, invoking his Constitutional right not to testify. Afterwards, he insulted the committee members on Twitter.

Shkrelis abrasive personality factored into his trial, as well. After calling the prosecution junior varsity in comments to reporters, and taking to Twitter under an alias (he had been permanently banned under his own name for harassing a reporter), the federal judge presiding over the case issued a gag order on Shkreli.

Before Shkreli, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) and its hepatitis C drugs were the focal point for industry critics, but his notoriety seemed to galvanize public opinion against high drug prices. Shkrelis Turing and other pharma price-gougers, such as Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) and Mylan (NASDAQ: MYL), maker of the Epi-Pen anti-allergy injection, took turns in the shame spotlight. When President-elect Trump said in January that drug companies were getting away with murder, the die seemed cast. Washington was prepared to take on the thorny problem of drug pricing, the industrys lobbying muscle be damned.

It hasnt happened. A draft of a presidential executive order on drug pricing that has circulated this summer seems to benefit drug companies, not rein them in.

There is no word yet when a final order is due, or if one is even coming. But Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) CEO David Ricks said last week on a conference call that he expects one in the second half of 2017. In the wake of the Republicans failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, Democrats have plugged their own agenda, including drug-price controls. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) unveiled his own plan this week.

Alex Lash is Xconomy's National Biotech Editor. He is based in San Francisco.

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Report: Martin Shkreli Faces Prison Term After Fraud Conviction - Xconomy

The Colorado Springs man who police say held three men at gunpoint last summer on Independence Pass has denied the allegations in response to a lawsuit.

In addition to the denials, Brolin McConnell, 31, also maintains his Fifth Amendment rights, which guard against self-incrimination.

McConnell faces criminal charges of attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping and menacing, among other counts. He has been in jail ever since his arrest on July 27, 2016, following what the alleged victims said was a terrifying and frightening ordeal on Lincoln Creek Road.

Its unclear why McConnell, a Front Range real estate agent, allegedly held the men hostage and made bizarre statements and demands, including one for $100 million. Law enforcement initially suspected he was on methamphetamine, but a drug screen showed only a trace of marijuana in his blood.

He shot twice near one hostage, including a bullet that whizzed by the mans ear, causing hearing damage, according to the lawsuit and police reports. That man and two others were able to escape, and McConnell surrendered after being rushed by sheriffs deputies and an Aspen police officer at gunpoint. He has been held in jail on a $500,000 bond ever since.

In June, the three men sued him in Pitkin County District Court, claiming assault, battery, false imprisonment, extreme and outrageous conduct and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The criminal case has halted after the district attorneys office appealed a judges dismissal or reduction, in February, of three felony counts, including attempted murder after deliberation, though a charge of attempted murder with extreme indifference was upheld. The disputed charges are now in the hands of the Colorado Court of Appeals.

McConnell has yet to speak in court or enter a plea; his first attorney waived advisement of the charges. At a preliminary hearing in January, in which a judge upheld some of the charges and dismissed or reduced others leading to the appeal Sarah Oszczakiewicz said the current bond was appropriate to protect the public. She cited jail recordings of conversations McConnell had with family members that show him instructing relatives to sell all his possessions to pay for legal representation. That includes multiple firearms, including AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, she said, adding that McConnell told his family he wanted to go live in the woods and forgo society.

On July 24, McConnells attorney, Scott Mikulecky of Colorado Springs, answered the lawsuit with a filing in which all of the allegations are denied.

The plaintiffs claims are barred or reduced by failure to mitigate their damages, the answer says, employing standard, boiler-plate legalese. Defendant expressly reserves all Fifth Amendment rights and privileges.

On Tuesday, Mikulecky moved to stay the lawsuit.

Defendant contends that in order to avoid undue prejudice against him, and to allow him and his counsel to prepare for the criminal trial, this court should stay these civil proceedings until the criminal trial has been completed, says the motion to stay the civil proceeding.

It says that McConnell, during the criminal proceeding, will be advised by his attorneys to invoke the Fifth Amendment in relation to the lawsuit.

And not until the criminal trial is concluded, and any appeals exhausted, will defendant be instructed by counsel that he will no longer have the ability to invoke these Fifth Amendment rights, Mikulecky wrote.

The motion, which the plaintiffs attorney, Ryan Kalamaya of Aspen, did not oppose, was approved by a judge on Wednesday.

chad@aspendailynews.com

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Independence Pass defendant denies multiple allegations - Aspen Daily News

Van Buren County, Mich.Can the government take your home and all your equity in it if you fall behind on your property taxes or like many people in Flint, Mich. refuse to pay your water bill?

The state of Michigan and a handful of other states think so. These states odd tax laws allow counties to take and sell tax-delinquent properties and keep all the profits from the sale no matter how small the tax debt or how valuable the property.

After bus driver Henderson Hodgens fell behind on his 2011 property taxes for the home and farm where he grew up in Geneva Township, Van Buren County took and sold his property. He owed $5,900 in taxes, penalties, interest, and fees. He thought hed be able to pay it when he got his tax refund. But health problems left him unexpectedly unable to pay or to sell before the county foreclosed. Van Buren County sold his property in 2014 for $47,500. The county kept every penny of what was left of Hendersons inheritance. His one tangible tie to his lost property is his old, broken-down tractor. It is something that reminds me of my dad, reminds me of my property, he said. And at least they cant take this from me I dont think.

Likewise, Wayside Church, a small, struggling church located in a southern section of Chicago, lost its former youth camp in western Michigan when financial troubles left the church unable to pay on time. The church owed $16,750. Van Buren County sold it for $206,000, yielding a massive windfall for the government. The $190,000 profit that the county pocketed could have gone a long way for the impoverished church, which has a new pastor but few funds to help him realize his hopes of working with area youth or even paying utility bills.

Other counties across Michigan are also taking advantage of property owners distress. Thousands of people every year are losing valuable properties to pay much smaller tax debts. Wayne County is capitalizing on its most vulnerable populations, using the high interest rates imposed on tardy taxpayers and highly profitable sales of tax-foreclosed properties to balance its budget. And in a shocking display of injustice, the city of Flint recently threatened, under this same confiscatory tax law, to take homes from residents who refuse to pay their water bills due to the citys crisis with tainted water. Flint has backed off from this approach for now, but under state law it may still choose to act on its threats in the future.

Arizona, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Oregon similarly leave distressed homeowners without any chance to claim the surplus profits from the sale of their tax-indebted properties. Minnesotas tax law may be the most curious, because the states supreme court once recognized that the right to the surplus exists independently of [any] statutory provision. In other words, it is one of the unalienable rights recognized by our Founders, which courts must protect, no matter what a statute might say.

On July 13, Hodgens and Wayside Church petitioned the Supreme Court to put an end to the injustice caused by such confiscatory tax statutes, and to hold that the takings clause requires Van Buren County to refund the windfalls it took at their expense. This case is our last hope, said Reginald Hill, a deacon at the church.

The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that the government cannot take private property unless it pays just compensation. The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the purpose of the takings clause is to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.

Fairness and justice demand that the government take only what it is owed. It is neither fair nor just for the government to swallow up life savings and livelihoods in the name of balancing government budgets. The duty of securing a healthy public fisc belongs to the public as a whole not just those who are struggling to get by. The government violates the takings clause when it forces property owners who are unable to pay their property taxes to bear more than their share of the tax burden.

Should the Supreme Court accept the appeal, it will be presented with a threshold jurisdictional issue before it can address the merits: It must make it clear that federal courts have jurisdiction to hear the takings claims in Hodgens and Wayside Churchs petition. Although this point may seem like common sense, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struggled with it in this case. Thats not too surprising, though, because the Supreme Court has for a few decades made it harder for plaintiffs to enforce their Fifth Amendment property rights than other constitutional rights, by requiring takings lawsuits to start in state court, a venue that is often more deferential to state and local regulators and regulations. Even convicted felons have a better chance of a day in federal court.

Hopefully the Supreme Court will put a stop to these takings for good and will open wide the federal courthouse doors for people who are being robbed by the government. But in the meantime, Michigan and states like it would do well to do some soul searching and change course.

Christina Martin is an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to provide liberty and justice for all. She is counsel of record in Henderson Hodgenss and Wayside Churchs petition to the Supreme Court.

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Michigan Turns Foreclosure into a Government Self-Enrichment Machine - National Review

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL)- Jury selection continues Tuesday in the trial of a quadruple murder suspect

WTXL ABC 27's Stephen Jiwanmall reported from the Leon County Courthouse.

Henry Segura has swapped an inmate jumpsuit for a suit.

His trial is getting underway nearly seven years after his girlfriend Brandi Peters and her three children were killed.

The state and the defense questioned more than 50 jurors.

The judge said they'll start narrowing down the field based on how familiar jurors are with the case and whether they have any hardships. In other words, can they serve during the whole trial?

The trial is expected to go for three weeks, and jurors will need to be here for all of it.

In other news this Monday morning, former gang member James Santos, who admitted last week to ordering the murders, is now "unsure" about testifying and invoking his Fifth Amendment rights.

The judge has ordered a competency evaluation to determine whether Santos can offer truthful testimony under oath.

Opening arguments won't start before Wednesday morning. The state says it's working on getting a key witness to testify about when the murders happened.

Check back for later developments.

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Quadruple murder suspect's trial continues - WTXL ABC 27