Raleigh County Grand Jury returns nearly a hundred indictments

BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVVA) - The Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office released the results of the September, 2022 Grand Jury.

According to Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield, 97 indictments were returned after evidence was presented to the jury this week.

The return of an indictment is a method of informing a defendant of alleged violations of state law, which must be proven in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt to overcome a defendant’s presumption of innocence.

Grand juries are traditionally set up by prosecutors to decide whether or not to formally charge a person with a crime. While going on, they are kept secret to protect the jurors from intimidation.

Hatfield said a list of defendants and offenses charged along with arraignment dates will be released at a later date.