Corey Jones shooting case to go before grand jury
Daphne Duret
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
7:18 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, 2016 | Filed in: Northern PBC
Now that Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg has announced that he will refer the case of the former police officer who shot Corey Jones to a grand jury, community leaders are calling the move an “easy way out.”
While some attorneys on Wednesday said the grand jury process is the only responsible way for Aronberg to decide if former Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja should face criminal charges for shooting the stranded motorist on Oct. 18, the decision also revived speculation that Jones’ case will go the way of others like Michael Brown and Tamir Rice — young black men killed in confrontations with police officers who grand juries cleared of wrongdoing.
Corey Jones shooting case to go before grand jury photo
Bill Ingram
State Attorney Dave Aronberg, seen at the conclusion of a press conference regarding the Corey Jones case after announcing that his office will present the Jones case to a grand jury Wednesday April 27, 2016 at the States Attorney’s Office. (Bill Ingram / The Palm Beach Post)
» RELATED: Timeline of the Corey Jones shooting
“Our only goal is to do justice, and I think we are as transparent as we can be under the rules,” Aronberg said to a group of reporters in a news conference announcing is the biggest development in the case so far. “I’d ask people not to jump to conclusions until it’s done.”
Aronberg could have concluded that no criminal charges were warranted and closed out the three-agency investigation, but he also could have decided to charge Raja outright with a number of charges ranging from murder to culpable negligence. Jones’ family and community leaders had urged for the latter in the six months since Raja drove an unmarked van up to Jones’ broken down car and approached him in plainclothes.
As it is, a panel of 21 local citizens which already have been chosen will have a decision on the case by June 30.
Raja told investigators that he shot at Jones because the 31-year-old drummer, who was on his way home from a gig, charged at him with a gun.
But Jones’ family, expected to further address the public in an 8 a.m. news conference Thursday, long have held that their son and brother died never knowing that the man who killed him was a police officer.
Corey Jones shooting case to go before grand jury photo
Daniel Owen
Retired judge Edward Rodgers speaks at a press conference about his opinion towards State Attorney David Aronberg’s decision to send the case to a grand jury saying, “The whole judicial system here is corrupt,” in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. (Daniel Owen / The Palm Beach Post)
Jones’ family members and friends late Wednesday unleashed a series of angry messages against Aronberg on social media postings. The official statement from the family attorneys, however, said the family was pleased to see the case move forward.
But they added their hearts were heavy in thinking of the loss of the Delray Beach Housing Authority apartment manager who was better known for playing at churches around the county as well as local clubs as a member of the Future Prezidents.
Other community leaders in a series of news conferences late Wednesday were openly critical of the first-term top prosecutor, who is running for reelection.
Corey Jones shooting case to go before grand jury photo
Corey Jones, 31, was shot and killed by a Palm Beach Gardens police officer, Oct. 18, 2015. Photo courtesy of WPTV.
Retired judge Edward Rodgers, who decades ago became the area’s first black judge, confronted Aronberg months ago when he spoke at one of the first rallies in the wake of Jones’ death and urged him not to take the case to a grand jury. On Wednesday, after hearing that Aronberg did so anyway, Rodgers in a news conference said Aronberg “took the easy way out.”
“He doesn’t have to (go to) the grand jury,” Rodgers said. “He can indict anybody he wants to, or not indict anybody he wants to. When he (uses) a grand jury, he wants to go rid of the case but he wants them to do it.”
Derrick McCray, Rae Whitely and Nicholas O’Neal, three of the men who have been organizing protests and meeting with Palm Beach Gardens city officials since Jones’ death, waited outside the state attorney’s office Wednesday to hear Aronberg’s decision.
Corey Jones shooting case to go before grand jury photo
Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja shot and killed Corey Jones, 31, on an Interstate 95 off ramp at PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens on Oct. 18, 2015. (Palm Beach Gardens Police Department photo)
Afterward, they said the move was sure to frustrate young people in the community who they felt had begun to believe that Jones’ shooting would be handled differently than others involving officers and young black men.
Palm Beach County Urban League President and CEO Patrick J. Franklin in a written statement also expressed disappointment in Aronberg’s decision, and asked for prayers and calm from the community.
The residents at the La France Apartments in Delray Beach, a building Jones managed, received the announcement with cautious optimism.
Clinton Jones, Corey Jones’ father, speaks outside of the State Attorney’s office with lawyer Kweku Darfoor, left, in downtown West Palm Beach on April 18, 2016. The event marked the passing of six months since Corey Jones death. (Richard Graulich / The Palm Beach Post)
“If that’s the way they have to go, that’s the way they have to go. But he does deserve justice because he was a good kid,” said Lawrence Washington, 74.
Nationally, the grand jury process has been widely criticized as a way for prosecutors to escape accountability on officer-involved shootings — especially grand juries in St. Louis and New York, which cleared officers involved in the deaths of Brown and Garner. Some other grand juries, however, have returned indictments in officer-involved shootings — although Aronberg said the last two such cases in Palm Beach County has resulted in the exoneration of the officers in question.
The state of California last year curtailed its use of grand juries in officer-involved shootings, and prosecutors in Georgia recently made a similar move.
Palm Beach County State Attorney speaks to reporters in announcing his office's decision to send the Corey Jones shooting case to a grand jury, April 27, 2016, in West Palm Beach. (Bill Ingram / The Palm Beach Post)
Still, some in the local legal community believe it was a smart decision to let 21 members of the public decide how best to deal with Raja.
Defense attorney Marc Shiner, who was a prosecutor for almost 14 years, said he’s participated in both sides of the grand jury process.
Having both presented a number of cases to grand juries and having had clients as subjects of such investigations, Shiner says what happens next rests largely on the shoulders of Chief Assistant State Attorney Brian Fernandes, who will be personally handling the grand jury presentment.
“It’s up to him, he can present one witness, or he can present every witness there is,” Shiner said. “If he does a good job and does what he’s supposed to do, which I think he will, then the public will return the decision that will be the fair one to make.”
Neither Aronberg or Fernandes would comment on any details of the case, including the existence of an audio recording of Jones’ call to AT&T Roadside assistance. According to a source close to the case, Raja’s version of events surrounding the shooting did not exactly match evidence from the recordings, which opened up an additional avenue for FBI, Palm Beach County Sheriff and state attorney investigators to explore.
Raja was still on probation with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department at the time of the shooting and was fired a month later. His attorney, Richard Lubin, said, “We look forward to participating in the process.”
Palm Beach Gardens officials on Wednesday said they were confident that Aronberg’s office would pursue a just outcome in the case.
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