Grand Jury to Investigate Slaying of Sheriff’s Deputy

The Orange County district attorney’s office, under attack by minority groups over its investigation into the Christmas Day shooting death of a sheriff’s deputy, announced Thursday that it is turning the politically charged case over to a grand jury.

The 19-member panel will begin hearing evidence March 2 to decide whether criminal charges should be filed against Deputy Brian J. Scanlan, 32, a training officer who authorities say fatally shot a fellow deputy during a training session behind a Lake Forest theater.

The unusual move, the subject of speculation for weeks in law enforcement circles, allows prosecutors to distance themselves from a case that has already prompted a firestorm of criticism from minorities.

No evidence has emerged publicly to suggest that race played a part in the shooting of Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins, 30, who was black, by Scanlan, who is white.

But minority groups in Orange County have been critical of the pace and thoroughness of the investigation. And they suggest that a dearth of public information on the case, as well as the closeness between the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office, have only fueled concerns that Robins’ race may have played a role in his death.

Adopting a high political profile that has been rare in Orange County’s small black community, local black leaders have pressed without success for federal and state investigations into the case. Minority representatives also met with members of the grand jury on the issue several weeks ago, officials said, urging the panel’s involvement.

Randall Jordan, publisher of a black community newspaper called Black Orange, said the district attorney’s investigation into the case has been frustrating because so many questions remain unresolved in the public mind, eight weeks after the shooting.

“We’d welcome any intense investigation, any detailed investigation,” he said. “The fact that they want to take this a step further (to the grand jury), we’re encouraged by that.”

Orange County prosecutors refused to discuss their decision, but Assistant Dist. Atty. John Conley acknowledged that the office has opted to send an officer-involved shooting to the grand jury only a handful of times in recent years.