Get back to our breaking news.
We take you to Atlanta,
where, as you can see
live from the pictures,
the court is back in session.
CNN Sara Murray is there with us.
Sir, what are you hearing
right?
That's right.
I mean, what we're seeing essentially
is the assembling
of everyone
that you need in order
to move this indictment
through the process.
It needs to go through again.
We are waiting to see
what this grand jury may have provided,
but we know that the judge is
back on the bench.
That court is back in session
and we are essentially waiting to see
what the grand jury has
to hand off to the judge.
We also know
that the clerk
is in the clerk's office again.
Here is how this works.
Whatever the grand jury decided
to do today,
whatever the grand jury handed up,
it gets handed up.
It gets walked into the presiding
judges courtroom,
which is Judge Robert McBurney this week.
He needs to sign off
on any potential indictment.
And then those indictments
need to be walked into the court
clerk's office where they can be stamped,
where they can be processed.
So as we are seeing these folks assemble,
we're seeing the judge take the bench.
We're seeing the clerk
show up in the clerk's office.
What we are essentially seeing
is everyone going
to the places
that they need
to be in order
to process a potential indictment.
While we await
word of what
the grand jury
has actually handed up, guys.
So, sir,
just in terms of what we are
literally seeing on the screen,
let's be clear. This is the room or the.
Is this the room
where the grand jury was meeting?
And that's the audience in in that room.
We're obviously not seeing the grand jury
where they're not showing the judge.
That's just the reporters, people
who have been sitting there waiting
for word. Correct.
Right.
I can't see that.
I can't see the room
that you're looking at right
now, Anderson,
because I'm looking into a camera.
But I think what you're looking at
is probably Judge
Robert McBurnie's
courtroom reporters
are not allowed into the room,
you know, where the grand jury
normally
convenes, where
they have been hearing from witnesses
all day.
But reporters have been sitting in Judge
Robert McBurnie's courtroom all day
waiting for any word that the grand jury
is wrapping up, waiting for any word
that the grand jury has any findings
that they are prepared to hand up
to this presiding judge today Anderson.
And then
so what will we hear from this room?
We will hear from the judge himself.
Yeah, it's
sort of up
to every presiding judge
of how they want to handle these things.
You know,
some judges,
when they're in this position,
just get a stack of papers,
they sign it,
they hand it back to an official
from the clerk's office
and they don't say anything about it.
We're waiting to see
if Judge Robert McBurney
is actually going to say
anything, presumably when he gets handed
whatever is provided to him
from the grand jury today.
Again,
the presiding judge has a lot of leeway
to sort of decide
what he wants to say in this situation.
And we're waiting to see
if Judge Roberts,
it looks like the clerk is
receiving paperwork now or
Saturday night.
Ali Hoenig.
Yes, I'm seeing our legal analyst,
Ellie Hoenig is also joining us.
Ellie, what are we
what are we watching now?
Yeah, this is the stage is set here.
These appear to be the final stages.
So what ordinarily would happen
is the prosecutor who's been handling
the grand jury proceedings
after the grand jury has voted,
assuming they have voted
yes on an indictment,
would then walk the foreperson
over to the clerk's window.
And we just saw someone
signing some paperwork
at a sort of translucent window
and then to the judge.
And as Sara said, different judges
handle
this part of the mechanics differently.
Some judges will do it in open court.
The grand jury foreperson
will literally hand up the indictment.
That's why we use the phrase
hand up an indictment.
The judge will review them quickly.
There's no substantive review.
It's just a formality.
And then sometimes
the judge will announce the case
names and numbers.
Other times that will happen behind
closed doors in chambers.
And the way we would then find out
is when these documents
hit the public docket,
which would be nearly instantaneously.
So it does look like there's
some security
moving through this area here.
We don't know exactly who the people are.
But again,
you would take the foreperson
as a prosecutor,
walk with that foreperson to the clerk
and then to the judge
where the final sort of stamping
would be happening.
So it seems like
that would be the clerk
that was just visited
and they are now going toward the judge.
Could well be.
Is that a safe assumption?
Could well be.
And again,
sometimes the judge will do this
in front of the public in the courtroom.
Usually it's no big deal
the person just walks up and the cases
don't really mean
much of anything to anybody.
Sometimes the judge can choose to do this
behind closed doors in chambers.
It's really up to the judge to do that.
And I think the courtroom
that we're looking at here,
you are correct. Sara is correct.
This is not the grand jury room.
You would never have a camera inside
a grand jury room. That's never happened.
I don't think that will happen.
This does appear to be a courtroom
where the crowd, the media assembled
there does
seem to be expecting
some sort of an announcement
by the judge.
And the judge could well do that
and come out and say,
we've returned the following indictment
today.
Case number,
such and such state of Georgia
versus whoever.
Also, former
Georgia federal judge
Michael Moore is with us
Judge Moore, I'm wondering,
what do you expect to now happen?
Well, at
this stage of
the proceedings, there's
nothing unusual about the grand jury
foreperson coming in with the prosecutor.
And in Georgia,
the indictments are to be presented
in open court,
and that is that
the courthouse is to be open
the courtrooms to be open.
The judge will have the bench, and
at that point,
there'll be a clerk present.
And then sometimes there's a discussion
with the judge and the foreperson.
You know,
is this the indictment handed up?
They'll flip through the pages
to make sure that it's signed
in the proper place.
Is those things on the docket
will be received in return in open court.
So that's what it sounds like.
Is happening here.
And, you know, the next step, obviously,
the judge will accept it.
This will be given to the clerk
and filed on the public docket.
And at that point, you know,
we're off to the races.
This it sounds to me like this
cake is well baked
and it's just a matter of time
before we see time.
And I imagine we'll see it.
It'll be good
to see if it tracks the charges
from the earlier posting
that we talked about in the earlier.
And Michael,
I think I referred to
as a former federal judge.
I apologize.
You were a former U.S. attorney. I
apologize to
my judge, friends
who may have said that I was.
Okay. So.
So, Michael, this
this is the the indictment
being handed to the judge, correct?
I can't see it, but that is likely
what is happening.
Yeah.
If you if the
if the clerk is there,
that if the prosecutors there,
the judge is on the bench
and the papers are going
up, that I would
gather that's the indictment
being handed.
Do we have sound in this room?
Can we listen in
Let's listen to
Madam
and we
one second
just making sure
Mr.
Royle's, everything
went as it should have
in front of the grand jury.
Yes, sir.
All right.
Is Alexander
you're prepared to take this?
I guess I'm delivering it to the clerk.
You maintain custody of it from you?
Yes, sir.
All right.
We can take the solicitation
or just go with Madam first.
All right.
Thank you all.
Yes, you too.
And you guys make way
at least