Follow-up: Dallas County grand jury declines to indict officers who killed man holding screwdriver

A Dallas County grand jury has declined to indict two officers who shot and killed a mentally ill man holding a screwdriver last June.

The shooting initially caused some grumbling mostly among local protest groups, but the reaction went national following the family’s release of body camera footage showing the confrontation escalate within seconds. The secret panel’s decision ends the threat of criminal prosecution of the officer, but they could still be held civilly liable by the family.

“The family is obviously severely disappointed,” says attorney Geoff Henley, who is representing the family of 38-year-old Jason Harrison, which filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in October. “But this isn’t going to affect our case. We’ll continue to move forward.”

In fact, says Henley, the officers involved — John Rogers and Andrew Hutchins — are scheduled to be deposed tomorrow, says Henley. Both are on active duty and were awaiting the grand jury’s decision concerning the fatal shooting, which was captured on a body-worn camera video and released by the family last month.

Read more: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/04/dallas-county-grand-jury-declines-to-indict-officers-who-killed-man-holding-screwdriver.html/

Related thread:
Dallas police shoot mentally ill man holding screwdriver
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107823946