“The court will need information it doesn’t have,” Fox said in the statement released Sunday. “It does not know the names of the witnesses who have testified before the grand jury and it has not heard the testimony or read transcriptions of testimony. The court has not seen documents or material presented to the grand jury....

“The court awaits the decision of the grand jury. The court will thereafter be guided by the law in its response to requests for grand jury records.”

McCulloch, who has been a target of critics in the handling of the case, has made clear in interviews that he is committed to taking the rare step of seeking a court order to release most of the testimony and physical evidence if there is no indictment. If Wilson is indicted, there would be a trial and evidence would be made public in the trial.

“There’s no probably about it,” McCulloch said to KTRS-AM host McGraw Milhaven on Sept. 24. “It will be released ... We’ve asked the judge to do that and the judge has agreed that she will do that. If there is no indictment, she will authorize the release of the testimony and the physical evidence that was presented to the grand jury.’’