Prosecutor Will Consider Special Investigator In Some Police Cases

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said he will consider enlisting a special prosecutor for some grand juries looking into fatal police-involved incidents. WOSU reports that move comes after a student organization made the request. The Ohio Student Association wanted O’Brien to create a policy in which a special, independent prosecutor investigates all situations of police use of deadly force. O’Brien declined to concede to the request, but offered to consider one on a case-by-case basis. “Even if we don’t say a special prosecutor will be appointed in all these cases, there may be some things that we can do differently, and the system can do differently, to provide the assurance that there’s no one rigging the grand jury to avoid an indictment when someone should be charged with murder," O'Brien said. Ohio Student Association member Marshawn McCarrel said the group is not happy with the compromise. “We think it needs to be somebody that’s not connected or has any connection with [local] law enforcement.” While O’Brien said he does not believe there is a conflict of interest, he said he does have some concerns. “My concern is a perception issue that sometimes people in a community may have that the criminal justice system isn’t fair to all persons in these kinds of circumstances.” OSA’s request comes as other cities around the country have protested grand juries that have declined to indict police officers who have killed unarmed African American men. McCarrel said the request was meant to be "preventive." “We’ve seen the process over and over with the grand juries not finding an indictment when it comes to these cases," he said. "And it’s really to restore, to help restore, the relationship and trust between community and law enforcement.”