Grand Jury Reform Act of 2020

I 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. HAS- TINGS, 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) in- troduced 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 con- ducted 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5779.IH H5779 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5779 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grand Jury Reform 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Grand juries are typically used as the proc- 8 ess by which allegations of police misconduct are 9 prosecuted. 10 (2) There exists a symbiotic relationship be- 11 tween local prosecutors and the law enforcement of- 12 ficers who regularly testify in routine grand jury in- 13 vestigations. 14 (3) The closeness of this relationship creates 15 public suspicion that accused police officers receive 16 preferential consideration from grand juries when 17 they are subject to grand jury investigations. 18 (4) Police officers have the right to appear be- 19 fore the grand jury investigating allegations of 20 wrongdoing by said officer, and give testimony not 21 subject to a thorough cross examination. 22 (5) Grand jury proceedings are by law secret 23 proceedings. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5779.IH H5779 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5779 IH (6) The secret grand jury process has histori- 1 cally resulted in a refusal to indict when the subject 2 of their investigation is a local law enforcement offi- 3 cer. 4 (7) The recent grand jury proceedings following 5 the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have 6 followed historical tradition, ending with a refusal to 7 indict the law enforcement officers involved in their 8 deaths. 9 (8) The American people have lost confidence in 10 the secretive grand jury process when it is used to 11 evaluate allegations of police misconduct. 12 (9) The loss of confidence in our system of jus- 13 tice leads to the undermining of the principles of 14 equality and justice upon which this country was 15 founded. 16 (10) Preliminary hearings are often replaced 17 with direct presentments, whereby the prosecutor 18 may send a case directly to the grand jury without 19 a public preliminary hearing. 20 SEC. 3. HEARING BEFORE A JUDGE REQUIRED. 21 (a) RECEIPT OF GRANT FUNDS.—In order for a 22 State or unit of local government in a State to be eligible 23 to receive Federal funding under subpart 1 of part E of 24 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5779.IH H5779 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5779 IH of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), the State shall comply 1 with the requirements of this section. 2 (b) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 3 (1) NOTIFICATION TO PROSECUTOR.—In the 4 case of a law enforcement officer of a local law en- 5 forcement agency who uses deadly force against a 6 person in the course of the officer’s employment, 7 and thereby causes the death of that person, not 8 later than 24 hours after the death occurs, the chief 9 officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality 10 in which the death occurred shall report the death 11 to the elected prosecutor of that locality. 12 (2) NOTIFICATION TO GOVERNOR.—Not later 13 than 24 hours after receiving notice under para- 14 graph (1), the elected prosecutor of the locality in 15 which the death occurred shall report the death to 16 the Governor of that State. 17 (c) HEARING REQUIREMENT; APPOINTMENT OF SPE- 18 CIAL PROSECUTOR.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 days after 20 receiving notice under subsection (b)(2), the Gov- 21 ernor of the State in which the death occurred shall 22 appoint a special prosecutor to present evidence on 23 behalf of the State at a hearing before a judge in 24 the appropriate court, in order to determine whether 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5779.IH H5779 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5779 IH probable cause exists for the State to bring criminal 1 charges against the law enforcement officer relating 2 to the death of the person, which determination shall 3 be made by the judge. The Governor shall use a ran- 4 dom process to select the special prosecutor from 5 among all of the elected prosecutors in the State, ex- 6 cluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in 7 which the death occurred. 8 (2) TIMING.—The hearing described in para- 9 graph (1) shall be held not later than 90 days after 10 the appointment of the special prosecutor, unless the 11 judge determines that good cause exists to delay the 12 hearing. 13 (3) COURT TO REMAIN OPEN TO THE PUB- 14 LIC.—Except as determined appropriate by the pre- 15 siding judge, in a hearing described in paragraph 16 (1), the court shall remain open to the public, and 17 upon scheduling the hearing the judge shall provide 18 notice to the public of the date, time, and location 19 of the hearing. 20 (d) STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO HAVE 21 EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY OVER INVESTIGATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 hours 23 after receiving notice under subsection (b)(2), the 24 Governor shall report the death to the chief officer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5779.IH H5779 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5779 IH of the State law enforcement agency of the State in 1 which the death occurred, and the State law enforce- 2 ment agency shall assume exclusive control of the in- 3 vestigation of the death during the pendency of the 4 probable cause hearing. 5 (2) COOPERATION OF LOCAL LAW ENFORCE- 6 MENT AGENCY.—The chief officer of the law enforce- 7 ment agency of the locality in which the death oc- 8 curred shall cooperate with the special prosecutor 9 and the chief officer of the State law enforcement 10 agency by responding promptly to requests for infor- 11 mation related to the death. 12 (e) WRITTEN DETERMINATION OF PROBABLE 13 CAUSE.—Not later than 5 days after the conclusion of a 14 hearing described in subsection (c), the judge presiding 15 over the hearing shall issue the determination described 16 in subsection (c) in writing, and shall submit such deter- 17 mination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which 18 the death occurred. Such determination shall be made 19 available to the public. 20 (f) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SPECIAL PROS- 21 ECUTOR.—Upon the conclusion of a hearing described in 22 subsection (c), the special prosecutor shall submit written 23 recommendations to the elected prosecutor of the locality 24 in which the death occurred, including a recommendation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5779.IH H5779 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5779 IH regarding whether criminal charges should be brought 1 against the law enforcement officer relating to the death 2 of the person. 3 (g) TOLLING OF PROCEDURAL DEADLINES.—Any 4 applicable filing or other procedural deadlines are tolled 5 during the pendency of the hearing described in subsection 6 (c). 7 (h) PRESERVATION OF PROSECUTORIAL DISCRE- 8 TION.—The hearing described in subsection (c) shall be 9 purely advisory, and shall have no binding effect on the 10 elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death oc- 11 curred. After the conclusion of the hearing described in 12 subsection (c), the elected prosecutor of the locality in 13 which the death occurred shall retain prosecutorial discre- 14 tion as to whether to bring charges against the law en- 15 forcement officer, including whether to hold a grand jury 16 proceeding in the appropriate court. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Feb 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5779.IH H5779 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS