"`It has long been the policy of the law, in furtherance of justice that the investigations and deliberations of a grand jury shall be conducted in secret, and that for most intents and purposes, all its proceedings should be legally sealed against divulgence.'" Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530, 531, 73 A.2d 433, 435 (1950) (citation omitted). [17, 18] The requirement of grand jury secrecy is not an absolute one. Rather, whether the secrecy of the grand jury can be invaded to allow the discovery and use of grand jury testimony transcribed prior to May 20, 1982, is a matter of discretion for the trial court.

In re Report of Grand Jury of Baltimore City, 152 Md. 616, 137 A. 370; State ex rel. Strong v. District Court of Ramsey County, 1944, 216 Minn. 345, 12 N.W.2d 776; In re Presentment by the Camden County Grand Jury, 1952, 10 N.J. 23, 89 A.2d 416. Likewise, this court may, in the exercise of its discretion and in the interest of justice, release a witness or juror from his oath of secrecy to permit him to disclose grand jury matter in another proceeding ( Metzler v. United States, 9 Cir., 1933, 64 Fed. 2d 203; United States v. American Medical Association, D.C. D.C. 1939, 26 F. Supp. 429; Opinion of the Justices, 1950, 96 N.H. 530, 73 A.2d 433) and even release the minutes of the grand jury's proceedings. United States v. Procter and Gamble Company, D.C.D.N.J. 1956, 19 F.R.D. 122; In re Bullock, D.C.D.C. 1952, 103 F. Supp. 639.

Moreover, even if it were and if private rights were infringed by reason of the Committee's violations of the Constitution, there are circumstances when redress can be had in the courts. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168. Cf. Greenfield v. Russel, 292 Ill. 392, 127 N.E. 102; Opinion of the Justices, 96 N. H. 530, 73 A.2d 433. The judiciary also becomes implicated when the Congress asks the courts to back up what its Committees have done; or when a victim of an investigation asks relief from punishment imposed on him. Then the procedural safeguards of the Bill of Rights come into full play. See Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178.

"It has long been the policy of the law, in furtherance of justice, that the investigations and deliberations of a grand jury should be conducted in secret, and that for most intents and purposes, all its proceedings should be legally sealed against divulgence." Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530, 531, 73 A.2d 433, 435 (1950) (quotation omitted). Our law presumes that proceedings before the grand jury are sacrosanct, and they may not be invaded by a defendant to challenge an indictment or conviction on the grounds that the grand jury subpoenaed privileged medical records of a third party.

"It has long been the policy of the law, in furtherance of justice, that the investigations and deliberations of a grand jury should be conducted in secret, and that for most intents and purposes, all its proceedings should be legally sealed against divulgence." Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530, 531, 73 A.2d 433, 435 (1950). Our law presumes that the proceedings before the grand jury are sacrosanct, and they may not be invaded by a defendant to challenge an indictment or a conviction on the grounds that testimony before a grand jury was at odds with testimony later received at trial.

[3-5] In New Hampshire, "[i]t has long been the policy of the law, in furtherance of justice, that the investigations and deliberations of a grand jury should be conducted in secret, and that for most intents and purposes, all its proceedings should be legally sealed against divulgence." Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530, 531, 73 A.2d 433, 434 (1950) (citation omitted); see State v. Booton, 114 N.H. 750, 755, 329 A.2d 376, 381 (1974), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 919 (1975). Grand jury stenographers are utilized in limited circumstances in which "an investigative grand jury has been convened by the prosecutor, a professional stenographer is often engaged to take minutes of the proceeding."

Defendant contends that in denying her motions for discovery of grand jury minutes and for a list of witnesses who testified before the grand jury the trial court deprived her of due process. In conformity with the practice in most States the proceedings of the grand jury in this State are secret. Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530, 73 A.2d 433 (1950). This traditional secrecy has been questioned on the grounds that it would be useful for a defendant to have the minutes and a list of witnesses in preparing his defense.

Their investigation may result in an indictment or it may not and their investigations are not subject to legislative control. Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530; Edwards, Grand Jury, 131 (1906); Younger, The People's Panel: The Grand Jury in the United States, 1634-1941, p. 242 (1963). A grand jury may return an indictment submitted by the Attorney General involving a crime committed within the county or refuse to do so.

The ruling is further clarified by Justice Weintraub in a concurring opinion where he points out that the characterization as directory of a statute which does not purport to confer discretion does not mean the officials chargeable thereunder are free to ignore it. Nevertheless, even though a rule is mandatory as to the administrative officials, with respect to the impact of a violation upon a judicial result it may well be described as merely regulatory. In New Hampshire, in State v. Canatella, 96 N.H. 202, 72 A.2d 507 (1950), the Supreme Court has held that even the completely unauthorized presence of a police officer, waiting to testify, during the testimony of the complaining witness did not afford a basis for quashing the indictment in the absence of prejudice, and in Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530, 73 A.2d 433, 436 ( Sup. Ct. 1950), it was said: "* * * not every irregularity impedes justice or is fatal to the proper administration of the functions of grand juries * * *."

"Generally, however, the legislative power to investigate is not absolute, and it has been held to be limited to the obtaining of information on matters which fall within the proper field of legislative action." Also, in Opinion of the Justices, 96 N.H. 530, 73 A.2d 433, it is said: "The legislative power to investigate is not absolute."