Prosecutor reveals fresh approach
Heck’s office no longer will handle shootings involving police.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. said his office will no longer review and present officer-involved shootings to a grand jury and instead will appoint special prosecutors to handle the cases.
Heck has notified police agencies across the county of his decision, saying in a letter that while he believes his office has handled these cases in a “fair, just and unbiased manner” the reality is that this change should help improve the public perception of justice.
Heck said he changed this policy after state lawmakers and elected officials recently recommended requiring outside prosecutors to be assigned to all cases of officer-involved shootings and deaths of people in police custody.
These recommendations were
made after statewide protests demanding racial justice and police reforms after the death of George Floyd.
The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s executive committee recently voted to support the governor’s and the attorney general’s efforts to push legislation mandating outside prosecutors to review cases in which police use lethal use of force, said Louis Tobin, the association’s executive director.
“Our decision was about public trust in the process,” he said. “It is our sincere hope that review by an outside prosecutor in these cases will help build confidence in our criminal justice system.”
In late July, Heck sent a letter to local law enforcement agencies saying his office has ceased handling police shootings and officer-invoked homicides, though his staff will be available to provide guidance during the immediate and initial investigations.
Heck’s letter pointed to comments by Gov. Mike DeWine in which the governor said law enforcement agencies should not investigate themselves.
Heck also mentioned the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s vote in support of independent investigation and prosecution in police-involved lethal use of force cases.
At the time Heck announced the revised policy last month, four officer-involved shootings were either under investigation by a law enforcement agency or were under review by Heck’s office, said Greg Flannagan, a spokesman and administrative assistant for Heck’s office.
“All four of those cases have been assigned to special prosecutors from other counties,” he said.
Prosecutors are perfectly capable of recognizing when they have a conflict and should request a special prosecutor, said Tobin, with the prosecuting attorneys association.
He said prosecutors already do this on a caseby-case basis, including for deadly police use-of-force cases.
But he said he thinks this change is policy is the right thing to do.
“There is no question that prosecutors can do their jobs fairly and with integrity and are perfectly capable of recognizing their own conflicts,” according to the prosecuting attorneys association’s July newsletter. “Our support for the proposal instead recognizes that there is a bigger picture issue of public confidence in the law should be addressed to promote faith in the justice system.”