[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5779 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5779
To provide that in the case of a law enforcement officer who uses
deadly force against a person, and thereby causes the death of that
person, a hearing shall be conducted before a judge to determine
whether there is probable cause for the State to bring criminal charges
against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of the
person, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2020
Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Clay, Mr.
Hastings, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Moore, Mr.
Jeffries, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Meeks, Mr.
Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Butterfield, Ms. Plaskett,
Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Omar, Mr. Rush, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Clarke of
New York, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that in the case of a law enforcement officer who uses
deadly force against a person, and thereby causes the death of that
person, a hearing shall be conducted before a judge to determine
whether there is probable cause for the State to bring criminal charges
against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of the
person, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Grand Jury Reform Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Grand juries are typically used as the process by which
allegations of police misconduct are prosecuted.
(2) There exists a symbiotic relationship between local
prosecutors and the law enforcement officers who regularly
testify in routine grand jury investigations.
(3) The closeness of this relationship creates public
suspicion that accused police officers receive preferential
consideration from grand juries when they are subject to grand
jury investigations.
(4) Police officers have the right to appear before the
grand jury investigating allegations of wrongdoing by said
officer, and give testimony not subject to a thorough cross
examination.
(5) Grand jury proceedings are by law secret proceedings.
(6) The secret grand jury process has historically resulted
in a refusal to indict when the subject of their investigation
is a local law enforcement officer.
(7) The recent grand jury proceedings following the deaths
of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have followed historical
tradition, ending with a refusal to indict the law enforcement
officers involved in their deaths.
(8) The American people have lost confidence in the
secretive grand jury process when it is used to evaluate
allegations of police misconduct.
(9) The loss of confidence in our system of justice leads
to the undermining of the principles of equality and justice
upon which this country was founded.
(10) Preliminary hearings are often replaced with direct
presentments, whereby the prosecutor may send a case directly
to the grand jury without a public preliminary hearing.
SEC. 3. HEARING BEFORE A JUDGE REQUIRED.
(a) Receipt of Grant Funds.--In order for a State or unit of local
government in a State to be eligible to receive Federal funding under
subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), the State shall comply
with the requirements of this section.
(b) Notification Requirements.--
(1) Notification to prosecutor.--In the case of a law
enforcement officer of a local law enforcement agency who uses
deadly force against a person in the course of the officer's
employment, and thereby causes the death of that person, not
later than 24 hours after the death occurs, the chief officer
of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which the
death occurred shall report the death to the elected prosecutor
of that locality.
(2) Notification to governor.--Not later than 24 hours
after receiving notice under paragraph (1), the elected
prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred shall
report the death to the Governor of that State.
(c) Hearing Requirement; Appointment of Special Prosecutor.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 3 days after receiving
notice under subsection (b)(2), the Governor of the State in
which the death occurred shall appoint a special prosecutor to
present evidence on behalf of the State at a hearing before a
judge in the appropriate court, in order to determine whether
probable cause exists for the State to bring criminal charges
against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of
the person, which determination shall be made by the judge. The
Governor shall use a random process to select the special
prosecutor from among all of the elected prosecutors in the
State, excluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in
which the death occurred.
(2) Timing.--The hearing described in paragraph (1) shall
be held not later than 90 days after the appointment of the
special prosecutor, unless the judge determines that good cause
exists to delay the hearing.
(3) Court to remain open to the public.--Except as
determined appropriate by the presiding judge, in a hearing
described in paragraph (1), the court shall remain open to the
public, and upon scheduling the hearing the judge shall provide
notice to the public of the date, time, and location of the
hearing.
(d) State Law Enforcement Agency To Have Exclusive Authority Over
Investigation.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 24 hours after receiving
notice under subsection (b)(2), the Governor shall report the
death to the chief officer of the State law enforcement agency
of the State in which the death occurred, and the State law
enforcement agency shall assume exclusive control of the
investigation of the death during the pendency of the probable
cause hearing.
(2) Cooperation of local law enforcement agency.--The chief
officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which
the death occurred shall cooperate with the special prosecutor
and the chief officer of the State law enforcement agency by
responding promptly to requests for information related to the
death.
(e) Written Determination of Probable Cause.--Not later than 5 days
after the conclusion of a hearing described in subsection (c), the
judge presiding over the hearing shall issue the determination
described in subsection (c) in writing, and shall submit such
determination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the
death occurred. Such determination shall be made available to the
public.
(f) Recommendations of the Special Prosecutor.--Upon the conclusion
of a hearing described in subsection (c), the special prosecutor shall
submit written recommendations to the elected prosecutor of the
locality in which the death occurred, including a recommendation
regarding whether criminal charges should be brought against the law
enforcement officer relating to the death of the person.
(g) Tolling of Procedural Deadlines.--Any applicable filing or
other procedural deadlines are tolled during the pendency of the
hearing described in subsection (c).
(h) Preservation of Prosecutorial Discretion.--The hearing
described in subsection (c) shall be purely advisory, and shall have no
binding effect on the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the
death occurred. After the conclusion of the hearing described in
subsection (c), the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the
death occurred shall retain prosecutorial discretion as to whether to
bring charges against the law enforcement officer, including whether to
hold a grand jury proceeding in the appropriate court.
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