Indianapolis police prepare for grand jury decision in Dreasjon Reed case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Metropolitan police are preparing for reactions as they hear an announcement could come this week in the Dreasjon Reed case.
Reed was shot and killed by police in May.
Reed was shot and killed by police on May 6 following a high-speed chase and an exchange of gunfire, police have said. Reed’s family is arguing that he never shot at police during the incident that was livestreamed on Facebook from Reed’s account.
It has been six months since police shot and killed Reed and three months since a special prosecutor announced the case would go to a grand jury. The incident surrounding his death has been the center of numerous protests around the city.
IMPD is preparing for any kind of reaction that could come out of the Reed announcement.
In a statement sent to News 8, IMPD said:
“Much like the rest of the community, IMPD has heard indications that an announcement from Special Prosecutor Khoury could come as early as this week. IMPD has not been in touch with Prosecutor Khoury, as the Indiana State Police led the investigation and the grand jury process is designed to be independent to ensure a fair and just outcome.
Over the last several months, IMPD Command Staff has been in regular contact with downtown business owners and stakeholder groups regarding updates to the department’s operational plans, as well as any information on local or national events that they may need to keep their businesses, employees, and customers safe. And just this morning, IMPD joined Mayor Hogsett on a call with many of these stakeholders to ensure they are well prepared and have a clear understanding of how we continue to monitor the potential for large gatherings. While we have full faith that our residents will demonstrate peacefully should they choose to do so, this is what community policing looks like – partnering with our stakeholders to ensure the safety of businesses and residents in the Mile Square and beyond.
We will remain in communication with our stakeholders as we focus on ensuring residents can safely exercise their first amendment right to peaceful protest.”
Statement from IMPD
After months without an update, Special Prosecutor Rosemary Khoury was court-ordered in early August to turn over the autopsy results to Reed’s family.
This was Reed’s mother’s reaction immediately after seeing the report: “The fabrication is real,” said Demetree Wynn. “Everything someone has told you other than coming from myself or my attorney is a complete lie; you can try if you want to, but you cannot do what you did to my son and tell me it was right.”
At that time, Khoury issued a statement saying, “We fully anticipate the family attorney will adhere to the confidentiality requirements set forth by Indiana code that prohibits the release of certain information contained in the report.”
The case is being decided by a grand jury. Experts say that evidence should paint a clear picture of what actually happened that day.
“These cases take a while. If there is alleged shooting back and forth like the allegations here, you have to corroborate all this stuff. You just can’t say, ‘Yeah, it happened,’ without proving that it happened,” said Timothy Williams, a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective.
Former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi explains the grand jury won’t decide on guilt but instead whether there is enough evidence for criminal charges to be filed.
“Especially if you have a bunch of contradictory witness statements and some contradictory evidence and that sort of thing – look, people are smart, people that are listening to the evidence and if the evidence is presented fairly and they get to ask questions, the grand jurors get to asked questions of the witnesses and that sort of thing. Often times the result can be the right result,” said Brizzi.
News 8 reached out to the Reed family’s attorney and she said they have no comment at this time.
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