District Attorneys within right not to disclose grand jury information
Public Interest Groups Seek Transparency
As grand juries from Ferguson, Missouri, to Staten Island, N.Y., concluded that facts were not sufficient to indict police officers in separate incidents of the fatal deaths of two unarmed black men, discourse has focused on Brooklyn and the larger role of grand juries as the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office prepares to present its case to a grand jury in the police-involved shooting death of another unarmed black male, Akai Gurley.
Earlier this month, Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth Thompson announced that his office would impanel a grand jury to determine whether evidence supports a criminal indictment of probationary NYPD officer Peter Liang who shot Gurley in what police have characterized as an accident.
“Everything points to accidental discharge,” NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said.