Civil grand jury eyes Condit complaint

Attorneys for flight attendant Anne Marie Smith have sought criminal and civil grand juy consideration of a complaint against U.S. Rep. Gary Condit.

MODESTO, California (CNN) -- A civil grand jury convened Thursday in a regular session to consider a complaint filed against U.S. Rep. Gary Condit by attorneys for a flight attendant who alleges the congressman obstructed justice and tried to get her to sign a false affidavit.

Anne Marie Smith claims she had a yearlong affair with Condit, whom she said she met as a United Airlines attendant on a flight from San Francisco to Washington.

Smith alleges the California Democrat tried to get her to sign a sworn statement in June that they never had a relationship -- at the same time authorities were questioning Condit about missing former intern Chandra Levy.

MORE STORIES Condit statement: No decision on re-election

Smith's attorneys filed requests for the indictments of Condit; his chief of staff, Mike Lynch; and his investigator, Don Thornton, with the Stanislaus County district attorney August 27. They filed them for civil and criminal grand jury consideration.

Marnie Ardis, the civil grand jury administrator, said the panel has three options. It can reject the case outright, move ahead with its own investigation or recommend that the district attorney's office investigate.

Under the latter scenario, the district attorney would decide whether to put the matter before a criminal grand jury. But District Attorney Jim Brazelton has told CNN he is not going to bring the case before a grand jury.

The Modesto Police Department is investigating the case for the district attorney's office, according to Detective Doug Ridenauer. The complaint was filed separately for consideration by a criminal grand jury.

Ardis said the civil grand jury decision -- expected in a few days -- will not be announced publicly but will be relayed to the attorneys who filed the complaint. They can choose whether to make the decision public, she said.

Jury foreman Robert Johnson shed no light on the proceedings Thursday evening as grand jury members went home.

The civil grand jury meets the first and third Thursdays of every month and is made up of 19 voluntary members, who serve one-year terms.

In an interview with ABC last month, Condit denied that he had a relationship with Smith or that he asked her to sign a false affidavit. He suggested that Smith was telling her story for financial gain.

Smith made her allegations after Condit became a key figure in the investigation into the disappearance of Levy, the former Bureau of Prisons intern with whom Condit has been linked romantically. Levy, 24, was reported last seen in Washington on April 30.