Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot is adopting a new policy for prosecutors in his office.
Prosecutors won't be allowed to make recommendations to grand juries on whether to issue indictments in criminal cases. Those prosecutors will still present information to grand juries, but Creuzot says it will be up to the members of the grand jury to exercise their own discretion about whether a suspect should be indicted.
"We are striving for consistency across the board," Creuzot said. "We will provide guidance as to what the elements of the crime are and whether we think the elements are met. We will answer any questions from the grand jury regarding the presentation of the case."
Until now, prosecutors had routinely made recommendations on whether to indict in most criminal cases. A notable exception was when the case involved allegations of misconduct or criminal activity by a police officer or other law enforcement official. In those cases, prosecutors had the ability to present the cases without making a recommendation.
Brian Owsley, Associate Professor of Law at the UNT Dallas College of Law, says that effectively set up a double standard - one for law enforcement and one for everyone else.
"I think the new policy is an attempt to be consistent across the board," Owsley said. "In other words - no recommendation for someone who is charged with stealing a car...or in a high-profile case as well."
Standardizing the process for presenting cases to the grand jury is one of the criminal justice reforms that are being adopted nation-wide.
"This is something that grows out of the criminal justice reform efforts we've seen in the last several years," Owsley said. "We're in Texas, so it's not exactly a place that's promoting a lot of police reform or criminal justice reform, but Dallas is a blue island in a sea of red."
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