Case Not Closed

The Orange County district attorney’s office still must answer questions about the fatal shooting of one Orange County sheriff’s deputy by another during a training exercise last Christmas Day, although a county grand jury this week decided not to return an indictment in the case.

The district attorney’s office had said it wanted to charge Deputy Brian P. Scanlan with involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins. A prosecutor said that criminal charges were a “close call” and the matter is now closed.

That may be true legally, but the shooting was so unusual and seemingly inexplicable that the district attorney’s office should disclose the facts in the case to help the public understand how the grand jury reached its decision. The Sheriff’s Department was slow and grudging in releasing details after the shooting and the district attorney dropped the traditional blanket of secrecy over the investigation; grand jury proceedings are secret.

Because the shooter was white and the victim African American, the case is especially sensitive, although there has been no evidence that race played a part. Incredibly, the exercise that led to the shooting occurred in a public place, the parking lot of a Lake Forest movie theater, rather than at some secure location. The use of a loaded weapon was in clear violation of Sheriff’s Department rules.

The department must make sure its training prevents similar incidents in the future. And the district attorney must lay out all the evidence in order to calm public concerns.