Hello,
Here Are Some Key Points for the community Regarding the Investigation of the Incident at Pete’s Grocery on February 23, 2010.
Investigation of Use of Deadly Force:
1. DA Wetmore, from Chemung County, has been appointed as special prosecutor to conduct this investigation.
2. His investigation concerns only the question of whether or not the use of
deadly force was justified given the officer’s perception of the situation. He will not
be investigating the CNET operation itself, nor anything that occurred at Cayuga
Medical Center.
3. If the DA finds that there is insufficient evidence to send to a grand jury, the investigation ends there. The only evidence that the public may receive in this case would be in any report that the DA chooses to make public. It is not likely that there would be much detail in such a report about the nature of the evidence.
4. If the DA chooses to present evidence to a grand jury, this does not necessarily mean that the DA has determined that there is enough evidence for an indictment. It only means that the DA has decided that a grand jury should make this decision.
5. A grand jury has 23 members. These are community members chosen at random. A grand jury is seated for several weeks at a time and hears evidence in any cases involving possible felony charges. At least 16 of the 23 must be present for the grand jury to hear evidence and make a determination.
6. If a grand jury does hear the evidence presented by the DA they can:
vote a “no bill” which means that 12 or more jurors have determined that there is not sufficient evidence for an indictment,
or,
12 members can vote to indict which means that they believe there is sufficient that I crime may have occurred to send the case to trial.
7. In either case, the grand jury’s proceedings are sealed and the public does not have access to any of the evidence presented to the grand jury. Nor will the public know what the vote was on a no bill or indictment. The only exception is that any witnesses who appear before the grand jury can legally report on their own testimony if they want to.
8. If there is a vote to indict, then the case would move to trial. In this case, DA Wetmore would continue to prosecute the case and the traial proceedings are public information. It is also important to remember that an indictment does not mean guilt. It only means that there is enough evidence for a criminal trial. The trial proceedings would determine innocence or guilt.
9. This all means that the public will only get access to the details of the evidence presented during this investigation if there is a grand jury indictment.
10. There is a grand jury in session in session now through the first week of June.
11. The location, time and dates that the grand jury is actually in session (i.e. hearing evidence) is kept secret to protect members of the grand jury, victims,witnesses and the subjects of any investigation.
12. If DA Wetmore decides to send evidence to a grand jury, the case could to the current grand jury. Otherwise it would go to the next grand jury which will be seated later in June.
13. Though the grand jury hearing is sealed, after a grand jury has made a
decision members of public might hear the results of a decision through a
press announcement from the DA. This announcement would not detail the
evidence. (Remember, grand jury proceedings are sealed.)
14. If the grand jury decides no charges are warranted they could release a report related to their findings. However, this report would not detail the evidence that was presented.
Conclusion: The only way DA Wetmore’s investigation will result in public access to the evidence is if the case goes to trial.
Wrongful death civil action:
1. If the Greenwood family decides to pursue a wrongful death civil action,
these proceedings would include the entire CNET operation and possibly
what occurred at Cayuga Medical Center regarding Shawn’s death.
2. This could involve civil court proceedings, in which case any evidence
presented would be public information.
3. If a wrongful death civil action resulted in a settlement out of court, it is unlikely that the public would have access to any of the evidence regarding the shooting itself, the CNET action or what occurred at Cayuga Medical Center.
Conclusion: The only way a civil action will result in public access to the evidence is if it goes to trial.
Ithaca Police Department’s After Action Review:
1.The IPD will conduct an internal “after action review” of what happened on February 23 to determine what went wrong, why it went wrong and what the IPd might be able to do in a future situation to avoid a similar outcome.
2.This review will occur after any criminal proceedings have been concluded (i.e. either after a grand jury “no bill” decision or after a trial has been completed in the event of a grand jury indictment).
3. Because this is an internal review, it is not clear what information the IPD would release to the public.
Overall conclusion: Members of the community should understand that there may never be public access to the evidence regarding the shooting and death of Shawn Greenwood collected by the special prosecutor, reviewed by a grand jury, regarding any civil proceedings or included in an official IPD after action review.
It is possible that the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) may provide public access to IPD’s “after action review” or any CNET review.
It is also possible that the Mayor will require public access to the IPD’s after action review.
