Police Slaying : Blacks Fault Grand Jury on Dubose

San Diego’s black leaders reacted with sharp and bitter words Friday to the decision by the county grand jury not to investigate the March 12 police slaying of Tommie C. Dubose.

Herb Cawthorne, executive director of the San Diego Urban League, said the grand jury’s determination that it does not have enough time left in its term to adequately review the slaying is “sophomoric and completely insulting to the intelligence of the public.”

The Rev. George Walker Smith, speaking before a Catfish Club lunch crowd of more than 50 black leaders and businessmen, said the grand jury’s reluctance to take on the case “points up once again the insensitivity toward our community, and I want you to know I am very grieved.”

Leon Williams, a member of the county Board of Supervisors, said the grand jurors by their inaction have increased fears in the minority community that police are willing to “take no risks and shoot anybody who moves.”

Letter to Kolender

Grand Jury Foreman Edward C. Malone said in a letter delivered Friday to Police Chief Bill Kolender that the jurors have decided a review of the shooting “would be inappropriate at this time.”

The letter said that because the district attorney’s office is currently investigating the shooting, “a concurrent review by the grand jury could result in limitations on its ability to fully investigate the matter.”

The letter also noted that the current grand jury disbands June 30, “which could result in an incomplete investigation which under (law) cannot be assumed by the incoming jury.”

The three-paragraph letter ended:

“The jury is also concerned that a precedent may be set which undermines the present review process. The jury can at any time on its own, or as a result of a citizen complaint, initiate its own independent review should it decide it is appropriate.”

But Smith said the time is now for the grand jury to step in.

“I was the first black member of the grand jury, in 1962, and I happen to know we can change our agenda at any time,” he said.

“And it doesn’t take 90 days to investigate anything. It didn’t take President Reagan 90 days to invade Grenada or 90 days to send troops to Honduras. We can do what we want to when we want to.”

Decision Defended

In an interview Friday afternoon, Malone, the foreman, strongly defended the grand jury’s decision not to probe the Dubose shooting.

“Everybody is going to leap in, it seems, and come to all kinds of conclusions,” he said. “But we tried to be very careful in writing that letter. This matter was talked about at length, and the grand jury took a vote on the issue.

“One of our greatest concerns was that if we start an investigation and it’s not finished, then the next jury would have to go all the way back and start all over again. We couldn’t leave them anything.”

Asked if he thought the next grand jury should conduct an investigation, Malone said: “I can’t speak for the next grand jury at all. If they want to, they are free to do that.”

Kolender, who had requested the grand jury investigation, said he is unsure which way the case will turn next.

“We’re going to take it under advisement,” Kolender said. “We’re a little disappointed, too, in the grand jury. We’re going to talk about it and see what else can be done.

“You know,” he added, “there will be another grand jury after June.”

Lt. Lou Scanlon, another Police Department spokesman, said the top command will meet and explore what alternatives are left for another independent investigation of the shooting.

“We will be discussing options with our management team and may have a statement early next week,” he said.

But Smith, who is spokesman for the Civilian Advisory Panel on Police Practices, told the Catfish Club audience that his group is not the proper committee to investigate the Dubose shooting.

He said his panel is responsible for reviewing the way the Police Department investigates citizen complaints and that “we don’t have legal authority” to interview witnesses or conduct any independent investigation into the Dubose shooting.

The slaying is continuing to draw sharp criticism from the minority community for several reasons. Dubose has been described as an upstanding citizen who was known in the community as an anti-drug activist, and was shot by Officer Carlos Garcia, who killed one person and wounded two others in two previous shooting incidents during his 10 years on the police force.

Dubose, 56, was shot five times on the night of March 12 when officers conducting a search for drugs burst into his home near 50th Street and Federal Boulevard.

Police have said their internal investigation showed Dubose was shot during a struggle over another officer’s gun, that his home was a known drug house, and that one of the victim’s sons was arrested on a drug charge the day before the shooting.

Drug Paraphernalia Found

While no drugs were found in the house, police said, they did find drug paraphernalia and a large quantity of hunting rifles and ammunition.

Vernon Sukumu, executive director of the Black Federation of San Diego, said he and other minority leaders plan to meet next week to discuss alternatives.

“The leadership in the black community was responsible, calm and thoughtful,” added Cawthorne of the Urban League. “And what we got back from the grand jury are explanations that are not even worth the paper on which they’re written.”

Supervisor Williams said police officers are among the highest-paid and respected public servants, but only because as peace officers they are expected to take risks in their jobs. He indicated that if there was a struggle with Dubose, police should have tried to subdue him rather than shoot him.

“Police officers are not supposed to say they’ll take no risks and shoot anybody who moves,” Williams said. “That is not what a police officer is supposed to do. They have to refrain from shooting people crazily and refrain from covering it up crazily.”