New California law bars grand juries in police lethal force cases

One of the three immigration-related measures signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday will effectively remove the word “alien” from the labor code of California.

The grand jury measure was proposed by Senator Holly Mitchell following the cases of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City, where both grand juries declined to indict the officers involved. Rather than deciding themselves whether to criminally charge an officer suspected of fatally abusing a suspect, prosecutors too often convene grand juries, presenting the evidence against officers in closed hearings, and then letting the citizen panel issue the indictment – or, more commonly, not.

Grand juries are heavily influenced by district attorneys, who can use them and the secrecy of the process to carry out policies and make decisions they would shy away from in a public forum. Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties already have opted not to use grand juries when an officer’s actions may have caused someone’s death. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, affirming the public’s right to take audio and video recordings of law enforcement officials without threat of being charged.

California’s grand jury ban, authored by Sen.

Not surprisingly, the California District Attorneys Association opposed the legislation.

Evan Westrup, a spokesperson for the governor, said the bills signed by the governor reflected that California recognizes and respects the diversity and contributions of all Californians. Himmelblau said he used the Grand Jury to further the investigation.

Under the ban, district attorneys starting next year will be required to weigh the evidence against police officers and decide whether to file criminal charges, as they do in the vast majority of all cases.

The association also argued that California laws concerning grand juries were more restrictive than in other states and at the federal level. Connecticut doesn’t allow anyone to be indicted by grand juries, whose detractors liken them to the Star Chamber, popularized by England’s Henry VII in the late 15 century. SB 227 is supported by the CA chapter of the NAACP, the CA Alliance of Boys and Men of Color, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund among others.