Grand Jury Decides Against Charging Condit

Sept. 10 -- A California grand jury has decided against investigating Rep. Gary Condit for alleged obstruction of justice in the Chandra Levy case.

The Stanislaus County grand jury was asked to consider whether to pursue obstruction of justice charges against the 53-year-old California Democrat.

The request for a grand jury investigation was made Aug. 27, by the nonprofit organization Judicial Watch. The conservative legal watchdog group filed the request on behalf of Anne Marie Smith, a flight attendant who has gone public with allegations she had an affair with Condit.

The grand jury was asked to indict Condit on charges of suborning perjury and obstructing justice for pressing Smith to deny an alleged affair. Condit has denied having a relationship with Smith.

Smith had been asked by a Condit associate to sign an affidavit indicating she never had an affair with Condit. In its request, Judicial Watch said she refused upon the advice of an attorney, who said she would be committing perjury if she signed.

"It is the opinion of this jury that the topic of your complaint is not properly with its jurisdiction. Therefore, the panel has voted to take no further action in this matter," said the jury in a statement released today.

The grand jury reached its secretdecision Thursday night and mailed it to Anne Marie Smith's lawyer,James Robinson, who disclosed the letter's contents today.

In a written statement, Robinson said there was no legalbasis for the grand jury's decision. Robinson noted that he saw clearevidence that a crime was committed.

"To speciously claim that a California State Court lacksjurisdiction in this matter is preposterous," Robinson said.

Few Clues, No Suspects

Law enforcement sources say Condit acknowledged having a sexual relationship with Levy, though not until a third interview with them. In an ABCNEWS interview with PrimeTime Thursday and in other media interviews, Condit has refused to characterize the relationship as romantic. Levy, the 24-year-old Bureau of Prisons intern, has been missing since early May. D.C. police have subsequently said they do not consider Condit a suspect. After dozens of interviews and intensive searches of Washington parks, police say they have few clues and no suspects. Condit's district office is in Modesto, Calif., in Stanislaus County. Levy, whose family lives in Condit's district, disappeared sometime after April 30, under mysterious circumstances, eliciting a barrage of media coverage and speculation. — ABCNEWS.com's David Ruppe contributed to this report.