Defense attorney Aaron Lee with Lee and Lee Law spoke to WCNC Charlotte Reporter Chloe Leshner about the ongoing case surrounding 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari who went missing in Cornelius, North Carolina, in November, but wasn’t reported missing for weeks.

Below is a transcript of what Lee told Leshner about what the grand jury process is:

LEE: Essentially, the grand jury is set up of 12 to 18 people, and they’d be residents in the county. And those people will hear evidence presented by only the state. So it’s all one sided. And their job is to solely decide whether there’s enough information available that a crime possibly had been committed. And the people that they say, did it possibly could have done it.

LESHNER: So I guess what is the difference? Or is there a difference between being indicted of a crime and charged with the crime?

LEE: Sure, being charged with a crime is essentially the process of just that you get your foot in the door on court. But those charges could be frivolous, you could have a police officer who has a vendetta, and they just bring charges that are unwarranted. The grand jury’s job is supposed to be a safeguard to make sure that there is at least enough evidence to pass that initial muster, to make it to the next step to go to Superior Court.

LESHNER: And then, like the difference between district court and Superior Court is typically to be indicted by a grand jury to move on to Superior Court.

LEE: You don’t, you could, you have, there’s a few processes to get to Superior Court where felonies are heard an indictment is one of them, or you can waive that formal hearing, which is what we call it’s just a waiver of probable cause. And that gets you straight to Superior Court. But you don’t just start there, you have to get there by one of these processes to protect an individual. So they’re not falsely charged.

LESHNER: I guess what does getting this indictment kind of mean for the attorneys on either side of the case, and then just for the investigation moving forward?

LEE: Sure. It doesn’t mean a whole lot. Especially like we have clients, they go, Oh, I was indicted, this must be this must be something bad. It doesn’t mean a whole lot mean 99.9% of cases are going to be indicted. So it doesn’t mean that you have a bad case, it doesn’t mean you have a good case, that just as the form that a case moves from District Court to Superior Court, and for the defense attorneys is least a mechanism for them to receive discovery or the evidence in the case to really start working on a defense for that individual who’s been indicted. But for the state. That just means you’ll get a different district attorney assigned to the case who’s assigned to a felony matters in superior court.

More information on the ongoing case here:

Essentially the grand jury is set up of 12 to 18 people and they be residents in The county and those people will hear Evidence presented by only the state so It's all one-sided and their job is to Solely decide whether there's enough Information available that a crime Possibly had been committed and the People that they say did it possibly Could have done it So I guess what is the difference or is There a difference between being Indicted of a crime and charged with a Crime sure being charged with a crime is Essentially the process of just that you Get your foot in the door at court but Those charges could be frivolous you Could have a police officer who has a Vendetta and they just bring charges That are unwarranted the grand jury's Job is supposed to be a safeguard to Make sure that there is at least enough Evidence to pass that initial muster to Make it to the next step to go to Superior Courts And then Like the difference between district Court and Superior report is typically Has to be indicted by a grand jury to Move on to Superior Court you don't you Could you have there's a few processes To get to Superior Court where felonies Are heard an indictment is one of them Or you can waive that formal hearing

Which is what we call it's just a waiver Of probable cause and that gets you Straight to Superior Court but you don't Just start there you have to get there By one of these processes to protect an Individual so they're not falsely Charged I guess what does getting this Um indictment kind of mean for the Attorneys on either side of the case and Then Just for the investigation moving Forward sure It doesn't mean a whole lot Um especially like we have clients they Go oh I was indicted this must be this Must be something bad it doesn't mean a Whole lot I mean 99.9 percent of cases Are going to be indicted so it doesn't Mean that you have a bad case it doesn't Mean you have a good case that just is The form that a case moves from District Court to Superior Court and for the Defense attorneys is at least a Mechanism for them to receive Discovery Or the evidence in the case to really Start working on a defense for that Individual who's been indicted but for The state it just means you'll get a Different district attorney assigned to The case who's assigned to a felony Matters in Superior Court

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Charlotte, North Carolina, is a thriving city. It is a major center of commerce, entertainment, and culture in the Southeast. The city is also home to several Fortune 500 companies.

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