Yeah that's standard, Grand Jury's pretty much always say there's enough evidence to bring charges.
I'm still banking on Chris taking a plea deal and this felony charge is part of it. He might have refused plea deals before, but from Chris' letters it sounds like he knows he's getting out soon.
I think Null will feature when Chris gets out, but definitely nothing that isn't a major life event for Chris anymore.
They do pick alternates for a reason, but a Judge isn't gonna let someone out of jury duty unless it's for a damn good reason. Like the jurors in the OJ case were sequestered for over eleven months, they were basically in fuckin jail not able to leave the hotel the city put em up in without a police escort.