An Orange County Superior judge ruled this afternoon that the Orange County Sheriff's Department does not have the ability to block the release of grand jury documents and transcripts related to a probe into an October 2006 jail beating death.

"There is no such authority for such action to be ordered by this court," said Judge James A. Stotler in his decision. "I am not a legislative body."

At issue in today's hearing was a bid by the Sheriff's Department to block release of grand jury documents and transcripts detailing an investigation into the jail beating death of John Derek Chamberlain. Last year, six inmates were charged in the death and last month three others were indicted by the grand jury.

Stotler said today that under state law, only a defendant's attorney could ask that certain aspects of a grand jury proceedings not be released, and that could only be done if the defendant could make a case that release of such evidence could prejudice his or her right to a fair trial.