Posted on 09/06/2002 9:19:52 PM PDT by Ravaged Nation
In an effort to "do the right thing," Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen announced Friday that a second grand jury would take up the case of Cincinnati Police Lt. Col. Ron Twitty.
Indictments returned earlier this week will be dismissed, Mr. Allen said at a news conference.
The development comes as questions continue to be raised about the involvement of an assistant city solicitor as foreman in the first grand jury.
The new grand jury will hear the case, Mr. Allen said, even as a Hamilton County Common Pleas judge reviews transcripts from the first grand jury to determine if improprieties occurred during that jury's review.
"I can think of no other way to address the questions of the appearance of impropriety that have been erroneously reported in this case," Mr. Allen said today.
"Regardless of the judge's findings, I have decided to re-submit the evidence and witnesses in the Twitty matter to a second grand jury," Mr. Allen said today.
Col. Twitty, 52, was indicted Tuesday on felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly lying about and trying to cover up how his department-issued car was wrecked July 4.
An assistant Cincinnati city solicitor, Stephen Fagel, served as foreman of that initial grand jury, despite the city's staunch hands-off policy in the case.
City leaders, including Mayor Charlie Luken and Vice-Mayor Alicia Reece, have complained that Mr. Fagel's involvement conjured up an appearance of impropriety and created a conflict of interest, considering that both he and Col. Twitty work for the same agency and that the city turned the investigation of the case over to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department.
Mr. Fagel, a 20-year veteran, started as a city prosecutor and now works in the city's real estate division. He has declined comment. His boss, City Solicitor Rita McNeil, has said that Mr. Fagel did nothing legally or ethically wrong and that he informed county prosecutors of his employment. They found no conflict, she said.
Mr. Allen also defended Mr. Fagel's service on the first grand jury, saying that to exclude him would have violated the grand jury process. However, in an effort to rectify any perceptions of wrongdoing, he opted for the second jury even after asking Judge Robert Kraft earlier today to review the first jury's proceedings.
Col. Twitty pleaded not guilty Friday to felony counts of tampering with evidence and records and misdemeanor falsification and obstruction.
His attorney, Sharon Zealey, also wants to review the grand jury proceedings to determine if there were any improprieties that would justify a request to have the indictment dismissed. Mr. Allen continued to maintain that the initial grand jury did nothing wrong.
However, "I'm a realist," he said. "It is important that the public perceives impartiality and fairness and that is what I seek and what I sought in this matter.
"What is important at the end of the day is that the general public knows that the right thing was done. I seek to do the right thing, nothing more, nothing less,'' he said.
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