Wednesday, September 04, 2002
County prosecutor let defense witnesses testify to grand jury
By Tom O'Neill, toneill@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In a highly unusual agreement, Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen presented to grand jurors three witnesses requested by the defense for Cincinnati police Lt. Col. Ron Twitty.
Mike Allen
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He didn't have to. It's something he's done just once or twice in his three years on the job, Mr. Allen said Monday.
“I didn't want anybody to credibly, and I underline credibly, say that this wasn't a fair and impartial process,” he said. “It's no secret that there's some people in the community whose sole purpose is to divide. We presented every piece of evidence that she asked us to.”
Yes, defense attorney Sharon Zealey responded later, but . . .
“It is true that we asked for certain witnesses to testify and, based on the information we have, they did testify,” said Ms. Zealey, a former federal prosecutor in Cincinnati. “We did not control the order in which they testified in relation to prosecution witnesses, we had no control whatsoever over the questions that were asked or how long they testified, or any other aspect of that testimony for that matter.“
Assistant Police Chief Twitty was indicted on two felony and two misdemeanor charges in connection with damage to his city owned vehicle, and now faces a trial in which he could lose his job and his freedom.
A special grand jury is typically convened to investigate a specific case, often over the course of several weeks. Regular grand juries work on a variety of cases, usually for about three weeks at a time.
Their job is the same: evaluate the evidence, listen to witnesses and decide whether there is probable cause to justify a criminal charge.
Prosecutors control the process and present all the evidence, but the agreement reached can be a calculated risk for both sides, defense attorneys say. In theory, the defense has two ways of winning by requesting that jurors hear defense testimony: either exculpatory evidence leads to no indictment, or an indictment on lesser charges.
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GRAND JURY WITNESSES
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Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen would not list all of the more than 20 witnesses his assistants used to present evidence to the special grand jury investigating the Lt. Col. Ron Twitty case. But these people either confirmed that they were subpoenaed, or they were seen going in or out of the grand jury room last week:
Police Chief Tom Streicher, who suspended his only black assistant chief July 12, three days after he learned about the wreck.
Cincinnati Police Officer Ralph Berry Jr., who was the first to respond to the Twitty home the morning of July 4 about the wreck, and Sgt. Tom Reid, Officer Berry's supervisor.
Cincinnati police traffic specialists, including Steve Edwards, one of two on the force with national accreditation in accident reconstruction.
Two employees of Fuller Ford in Queensgate, where the 2001 Ford Taurus was repaired, including manager Kurt Watts, who oversaw the work.
Employees of the city's fleet services department.
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The downside is being locked into a potentially damaging account, especially when the suspect testifies.
Mr. Allen declined to say who the defense witnesses were.
“Oftentimes, strategically, you might not want to (request) it,” said Cincinnati defense attorney Merlyn Shiverdecker. “In a case of this nature, the prosecutor's office wants to present as much as they have.” He said that was typical of cases in which the accused is a police officer.
Despite the racial undercurrent of the case, Mr. Shiverdecker said he believed Mr. Allen's reason for allowing defense evidence was “absolutely not” political.
However, Bill Gallagher, past president of the Greater Cincinnati Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, pointed out that “politically speaking, it makes sense. You're appearing extremely fair.”
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