Art. 438 Duty of grand juror having knowledge of offense; investigation

If a grand juror finds out about a crime that could be tried in the parish's district court, that juror has to tell the rest of the grand jury about it. The other jurors can then decide to look into it further. This means grand jurors are not just supposed to sit back and wait for cases to be brought to them. If they personally know about a crime, they have a duty to speak up.

The rule also says that grand juror can testify as a witness about what they know, both during the grand jury's own investigation and later on if the case goes to trial. So a grand juror who reports a crime is not disqualified from being a witness later just because they served on the grand jury. Their firsthand knowledge can still be used as evidence.