U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office may ask a D.C. Superior Court grand jury to indict on federal charges even after a federal grand jury has declined to do so, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ruled Thursday. The decision gives prosecutors a second route to pursue serious cases in the capital, potentially allowing them to revive matters that stall in federal court.
Boasberg pointed to a section of the D.C. code that authorizes grand juries in both U.S. District Court and D.C. Superior Court to return indictments on federal offenses. As a result, prosecutors in Washington now effectively have two venues available when seeking indictments for major crimes.
The decision could significantly shape how criminal cases are handled in the District.
Boasberg agreed with Pirro’s position that her office acted lawfully when it obtained a Superior Court indictment against Kevontae Stewart on a felon-in-possession firearm charge after a federal grand jury rejected the same count.
The ruling is a notable win for Pirro, whose push to bring more federal cases has faced unusual pushback from federal grand juries this year.
“This is a huge victory, but it didn’t have to be, because the law is so clear,” Pirro told The Washington Post.
Stewart, 28, was arrested in Southwest Washington in September after officers and federal agents saw him smoking marijuana in a parked, running Jeep, according to a police affidavit. Authorities say he ran, fell, and threw a handgun across the street. Court records indicate he had a prior Maryland felony burglary conviction.
Pirro had sharply criticized federal magistrate judge Zia M. Faruqui, who refused to accept Stewart’s Superior Court indictment on the gun charge after the federal grand jury vote. Faruqui described the maneuver as “unseemly” and likely unlawful.
“Not to mention, this only deepens the growing mistrust of the actions of prosecutors,” Faruqui wrote.
At a hearing last month, Boasberg said the tactic appeared to be almost unheard of in recent decades.
“I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it,” he said then, also urging Pirro’s office to dial back its rhetoric while the dispute was before Faruqui.
Pirro argued that the move should not have startled either judge. She noted both had overseen a 2020 case involving Emanuel Scott, where a local grand jury indicted and the defendant was later charged in federal court. Prosecutors also cited six comparable instances before federal judges in D.C. dating back to 1995. Still, none of those cases involved seeking a local indictment after a federal grand jury had already turned the same charge down.
“I am tired of being criticized for aggressively working to keep felons illegally possessing firearms off the streets,” Pirro said. She added that Boasberg’s ruling gives her office another useful option, but said the fight over it created avoidable litigation that slows legitimate prosecutions.
Stewart’s public defenders have not said whether they will appeal. They did not respond to comment requests Saturday.
Federal prosecutors in D.C. can charge under either local law or federal statutes. Typically, more serious federal counts go to district court, while local offenses are handled in superior court. Prosecutors already could present the same case multiple times to grand juries within each court.
Boasberg’s ruling, however, makes clear that prosecutors may now bring “any criminal matter” to a local grand jury for a federal indictment, including crimes such as capital offenses, treason, racketeering conspiracy, or sedition.
He also warned of a troubling possibility: prosecutors could choose to skip federal grand juries entirely.
“The Government could choose to circumvent the federal grand jury altogether and decide it ‘will never take a case to a federal grand jury,’” Boasberg wrote. While he called such scenarios concerning, he said any fix would have to come from Congress, not the courts.
Faruqui highlighted key differences between the two grand-jury systems. Superior Court grand juries typically sit for only 25 days and process a high volume of arrest-driven cases, often hearing from just one witness. Federal grand juries sit for about a year, take on far fewer matters, and usually consider more complex investigations with multiple witnesses.
“Arguably, the lower volume of cases gives the federal grand jurors additional time to pressure test the government’s case,” Faruqui wrote.
Stewart’s defense team argued that allowing prosecutors to seek a second indictment across town after failing in federal court undermines fairness. “Permitting the U.S. Attorney’s Office to go across the street to get an indictment after failing to get one in this courthouse is hardly just or fair to the people of D.C.,” they wrote in a filing urging Boasberg to reject the charge.
