ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Good Case for the Grand Jury

The Orange County district attorney’s investigation into the shooting death of a sheriff’s deputy on Christmas Day has been politically charged, and that’s why it won’t hurt, and may help, to have the case turned over to the Orange County Grand Jury.

Minority communities in Orange County have taken a high profile, questioning the way the investigation has been carried out and calling for federal and state civil-rights investigations. To date, no evidence has surfaced publicly that would suggest that there was any racial component in the shooting of Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins, who was black, by Deputy Brian J. Scanlan, a training officer who is white. The shooting occurred during a training session behind a Lake Forest theater.

But now, in what just happens to be an election year, the district attorney has announced that he is turning the matter over to a grand jury. Prosecutors have refused to discuss the case, although they acknowledge that it is not a regular occurrence to turn over a case in that manner.

We have said before that there was no compelling reason to question the ability of the district attorney’s office to conduct a thorough and impartial independent inquiry. The unusual decision no doubt will give it some insulation from criticism, and essentially pass the decision to yet another removed body. There have been questions raised about whether the investigation could be affected somehow by the usually close working relations between the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney.

Is passing the case along passing the buck? If it contributes to any perception of independence, there can be no harm in the decision. If it serves the larger public interest in bolstering the credibility of the inquiry, while also apparently providing political cover, well and good.

The district attorney has conducted solid inquiries in the past. But the imprimatur of the grand jury may add a helpful additional layer of review. Credibility is always important in investigations of shootings by police, but this case is particularly sensitive.