BEND, OR -- The Deschutes County District Attorney has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against a Bend woman accused of stealing from her employer. Gretchen Miller was accused last year of embezzling from Bend Painting while she was the company’s bookkeeper.

D.A. John Hummel moved to dismiss the 15-count indictment after learning that during the July Grand Jury hearing, the owner of Bend Painting met with a juror and discussed the merits of the case. Neither reported the interaction and the juror continued to hear the case. 

Hummel released the following statement, Tuesday: 

No individual criminal case is more important than the sanctity of our criminal justice system.  When misconduct occurs I’ll root it out and make things right. Grand jurors should never discuss with anyone what happens in a grand jury hearing and victims of crime should not seek out grand jurors to put their spin on the evidence. The scales of justice were tipped in this case and I won’t stand for that in Deschutes County.