Pittsburgh Post-Gazette—The city of Pittsburgh on Thursday asked a federal judge to force the U.S. attorney’s office to turn over all grand jury testimony in the federal investigation of three Pittsburgh police officers involved in the arrest of high school student Jordan Miles during a confrontation in Homewood in 2010.
In a federal suit filed in August, Mr. Miles claims that officers Michael Saldutte, David Sisak and Richard Ewing beat him Jan. 12 on Tioga Street.
The U.S. Justice Department conducted an investigation but concluded that not enough evidence exists to charge the officers with civil rights violations.
Yesterday the city filed a motion in Mr. Miles’ suit requesting that U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster order the government to turn over testimony of 40 witnesses who appeared before the federal grand jury, saying access to the information is necessary for the city to prepare its defense.
Grand jury testimony is secret and generally not disclosed for use in civil cases, although there have been exceptions. Under the federal rules of criminal procedure, a judge can release such information “preliminarily to or in conjunction with a judicial proceeding.”
In one notable case from the 1940s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that after a grand jury is finished with its duty, “disclosure is wholly proper where the ends of justice require it.”
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11189/1158949-53.stm
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