Our Unjust Justice System

When I first met Hoppy Heidelberg in September of 1995 he was angry. He had the unfortunate experience of coming face to face with a system that apparently considers us—the citizens of the United States—something of a nuisance. He had just been "fired" from the Grand Jury. Hoppy Heidelberg was one of the original 23 Federal Grand Jurors who had just indicted Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for the April 19 bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. It was Hoppy's anger that fueled his courage.

"You can just check justice at the door," Hoppy said when he shared his unbelievable tale with me. Every Federal Grand Juror is issued a "Federal Grand Juror Handbook," a small booklet that outlines the duties and responsibilities of the jurors. Hoppy studied the booklet, thinking that these were the rules of the investigation and the duties of the jurors. The booklet led Hoppy to believe the goal was to get to the truth and was astounded to find that "the truth" was not at all the goal. The goal was to indict two men—and the truth be damned. But what is so flabbergasting is, as Hoppy points out, "The Grand Jury is designed to keep the government from getting too strong. Because once it does, it can just prosecute anybody it wants."

Our grand jury system is supposed to protect us, but has been corrupted almost beyond repair.

Hoppy was determined to get to at least some of the truth, despite the prosecution's ongoing denial of his rights as a Grand Juror. He persisted in spite of the several visits to his home by FBI agents. He even went so far as to discuss the problem with the head prosecutor, who suggested he write a letter to Judge Russell.

Hoppy claimed, "I had been lied to. They had promised me that I wouldn't have to vote until all the pieces of the puzzle were in place. And that was a lie."

Even though Hoppy voted to indict, he was still very concerned about the ongoing investigation into the identities of all the other John Does, and outlined his concerns in a letter to the Judge. Hoppy felt that the Judge's response would let him know whether they intended to go on with the investigation or not. He was immediately dismissed from the Grand Jury and threatened with contempt of court if he spoke out.

He continues to speak out to this day.

Hoppy has not only shown great courage by refusing to keep silent, but he continues to challenge the system. After becoming aware of the huge amount of evidence that seemingly would not make it into the courtroom and after seeing how his interest in examining witnesses had resulted in his ultimate dismissal, Hoppy helped form the Committee for the Truth in Oklahoma. The goal is to gather any and all testimony from anyone who may have knowledge of what happened that morning and publish a report. You can find out more about what they have discovered at their web site: http://OKTruth.com or by writing them at P. O. Box 53, Oklahoma City, OK 73101-0053, Fax: 405-485-9757.

To find out more about Hoppy's experiences as a Grand Juror and to better understand how the system functions, I invite you to order a copy of Indictment: inside the Oklahoma City Grand Jury I produced this video with the hopes of breaking through our apathy. If jurors as a whole refuse to submit to the will of the prosecution and actually do the job they are bound by oath to do, we can save our judicial system. The problem is that action takes courage. How many of us are willing to go the full measure? To speak out when a wrong is perceived? To not back down when challenged? Learn about what the Grand Jury does and does not do. To order a copy call 800-551-5328.