Wayne County prosecutor Daniel Lutz thinks it’s interesting how the public perception of grand juries has changed.
Lutz said an old refrain — coined by a judge in 1985 — was that a grand jury would “indict a ham sandwich.”
Recently, though, the criticism has been that grand juries won’t indict police officers who use lethal force.
This concern will be among the chief issues examined by the Ohio Supreme Court’s new task force on grand juries. Lutz is serving as vice chair. The group will have its second meeting in Columbus on Friday.
“The perception is that prosecutors have too much influence,” said Lutz, who has been an attorney for nearly 30 years, including five as the Wayne County prosecutor. “That will have to be dealt with in all of our work groups.”
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, a Summit County native, formed the task force in response to criticism of grand juries not indicting police officers, including the officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland. O’Connor, though, made it clear that the group of judges, lawmakers, professors and community members is looking for potential improvements to the grand-jury process, and not eliminating it.
“I formed this task force to recommend ways to improve the functioning and fairness of grand juries and to see what additional steps can be taken to improve the public’s confidence, understanding and trust in our justice system,” O’Connor said in her initial remarks to the task force.
O’Connor said in a recent email that she chose Lutz as the only prosecutor on the task force because he has experience presenting to grand juries and provides the perspective of a county without a major urban city.
The Beacon Journal talked to Lutz about his thoughts on grand juries and the challenge the task force faces between now and June 15 when the group’s initial report is due.
Q: What has your experience been dealing with grand juries?
A: It’s been great. From a personal level, I really enjoy it. It keeps me in touch with the cases my assistant prosecutors are drafting … I generally don’t get involved with trying cases. This is a good way to satisfy my urge to be in the courtroom.
Q: During your time as a lawyer, what has changed with the public perception of police?
A: Honestly, I’ve been disheartened by the negative perception of police. It’s been going on for a couple of years … I think police have taken a really bad rap. There are bad apples in any bunch. Ninety-nine percent do a good, honorable job serving the public.
Q: How about the perception of the legal system?
A: There’s been an interesting phenomena we’ve been experiencing as prosecutors. I don’t know if you’ve seen the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer. It is having an impact. Prospective jurors don’t trust law enforcement. They don’t trust prosecutors. They speak up and are not in the jury pool. But that’s the perception.
Q: How do you feel about being vice chair of the task force?
A: I think it’s an important issue that we need to look at because of the negative perception.
Q: A resolution pending in the legislature would ask voters to eliminate the grand jury system. Do you think the system should be maintained?
A: I do. My experience with the grand-jury process and the experience of the grand jurors has been very positive … I’m in favor of keeping it. I’m not saying there aren’t areas that can be improved.
Q: What did you think of the grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer in the Tamir Rice shooting?
A: The grand jurors heard everything. I don’t want to try to guess why they did or didn’t do what they did … There’s no doubt that extremely poor police work occurred, but did that amount to a crime? That’s what they had to decide.
Q: One of the issues the task force will be considering is whether a special prosecutor should handle cases involving police officers’ use of lethal force, like in the Rice case. What are your thoughts on this?
A: (Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim) McGinty sent a letter to the legislature to propose a change in the law. I don’t think it’s a reasonable proposal. He proposed in these cases — death by use of force by a police officer — the prosecutor and attorney general have concurrent jurisdiction.
Q: Do you think the average person has any idea what a grand jury does?
A: How it’s done: No. Maybe a real vague understanding.
Q: The task force will be looking at how to improve the public understanding of grand juries. How is that possible when the process is cloaked in secrecy?
A: The procedure itself — I don’t think that needs to be cloaked in secrecy … If the public understood the process, there would be less suspicion about the procedure.
Q: Is the secrecy necessary?
A: I think there is a misconception that the secrecy is to cloak the government or cloak the prosecutor somehow. That is really not the case. The secrecy protects witnesses from being intimidated not to testify. It protects the grand jurors themselves. In my mind, one of the most important reasons is for the person who may not get indicted.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.