The costs, which were compiled by Court Administrator Lance Dexter, were broken into six different line items: overtime, office supplies, contractual, professional services, stenographer fees and attorney fees. The grand jury convened between Sept. 20, 2004 and Sept. 21, 2005. Stenographer fees were the most expensive line item, totaling $13,781.86.

Central Michigan Life obtained the grand jury accounting through a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request filed earlier this month.

Graham died July 14, 2004 from the blunt force trauma injuries he sustained during a fight in the early morning hours of June 25, 2004 outside Shaboom Pub Club, 106 Court St.

The county shelled out $3,745.81 in overtime for court officers and recorders. The year-long secret proceedings accumulated about 6,900 pages of testimony, amounting to $1,443.29 in office supplies.

County officials also spent $5,582.49 on unspecified contractual expenditures and $10,123.10 on "professional services," according to the one-page report. An additional $1,673.50 was spent on attorney fees, presumably for court-appointed attorney to represent CMU students who were held in contempt of court for lying to the grand jury.

Prosecutor Larry Burdick could not be reached for comment on the costs. The grand jury costs could rise if one attorney has his way.

Richard Marcil, the attorney for former CMU football player James Cooper Jr., plans to file a motion Dec. 22 so his client can receive grand jury transcripts for free or at the public's expense. Cooper faces charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and being an accessory to a crime.

Marcil said copies of the grand jury transcripts will cost more than $2,000. There also are more than 15 video tapes at $20 a piece and police reports at more than $200 a piece, he said.

He said case law from a 1993 Court of Appeals decision will be the basis of his argument. The prosecution chose the costly process of a grand jury when they probably didn't need to do so, Marcil said.

"In these situations you have to provide them at public expense," he said. "...We don't intend to pay for any of it. We intend to have to have this laid at the feet of the taxpayers of Isabella County."

Court-appointed attorneys have already received grand jury transcripts because the court paid for the copies, said James D. Veldhuis, attorney for former CMU football player and second-degree murder defendant Demond Petty.

Doraid Elder, attorney for former CMU football player and second-degree murder defendant Jerry Seymour, said he will not file a similar motion because he already paid to get the transcripts in time for the trial.

"The bottom line is we got to prepare for a trial," he said. "You got documents you got to go through."

Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain served as the lone-grand juror in the case, which officials have said saved the county money by not having to reimburse a regular jury for their time.

A consolidation hearing for the trials of five of the six suspects charged with second-degree murder in the case will take place on at 9:15 a.m. Dec. 22.

See www.cm-life.com during the holiday break for updates on the case. CM Life will resume publication Jan. 9, 2006.