Cuomo To Consider Changes To Grand Jury Transparency In Wake Of Garner Case

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo is looking into ways to make the state's grand jury process more transparent.

As 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported, the governor is expected to propose a number of criminal justice measures next week and is looking at all sides of the grand jury issue.

Following the Eric Garner case, there has been a call for the release of secret grand jury minutes.

"If the public doesn't trust the justice system, you have a problem," Cuomo said. "So we have to restore the trust in the justice system. How do you do that? More transparency, proposals about the grand jury."

The governor said any change would be statewide, so it would need to be approved by the state Legislature, 1010 WINS reported.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was careful in his response.

"I broadly believe transparency is helpful because there's so much misinformation that sometimes having the actual record is helpful," the mayor said.

But de Blasio also said he's not a lawyer and doesn't know the pros and cons of the issue, and he hasn't seen any proposal that Cuomo might be considering.

Last month, Cuomo also indicated he might act as a peacemaker and would speak to PBA President Patrick Lynch about bringing down the temperature in the police unions' dispute with the mayor. As it turns out, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, the governor has met with a number of police union heads.

"I know the governor has a long-standing relationship with some of those leaders and some of the issues he's working on on the state level. Obviously it's pertinent to talk to a lot of different constituencies about," de Blasio said.

But the mayor made it clear he'll deal with the city issues. The mayor's press secretary, Phil Walzak, has said the mayor believes an outside intermediary is not necessary.

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