With Harris County grand juries, it’s ‘pick-a-pal’

Chron

The numbers are stunning. A recent Houston Chronicle investigation (“Bulletproof,” Nov. 24, A1) reveals that, between 2008 and 2012, Houston police officers shot 121 civilians. In every case, Harris County grand juries cleared the officers of criminal wrongdoing. Not one stood trial.

Is it possible that every one of those shootings was justified? More than a quarter of the people shot were unarmed. One of the men killed was a double amputee in a wheelchair. He threatened an officer with a ballpoint pen.  

In theory, grand juries serve as an independent check on prosecutors and law enforcement. But in practice, they tend to side with prosecutors. And no wonder: The prosecutor, often the only lawyer in the room, leads the closed-door proceedings; no judge is present.

Prosecutors work closely with police. So it’s no wonder that, unlike the vast majority of criminal suspects that grand juries consider, officers are rarely indicted.

In Harris County, most grand juries are extra-friendly to police and prosecutors. Texas state law allows judges to choose how their grand jurors are called. The most just way would be to select them randomly from the general population, the way that regular juries are called. But in Harris County, only six of the 21 criminal courts use purely random selection.

The other method is what’s called a “commissioner” or “key man” system – or, less formally, “pick-a-pal.” The judge appoints commissioners who suggest people from the community to serve on the grand jury. That system is easier on the judges and faster for the courts; with pre-screened volunteers, there’s no need to question a large pool of people.

The problem? Judges pick commissioners who they know, who in turn pick grand jurors who they know. Instead of reflecting Harris County, the resulting pool is almost always whiter and more elderly. And worse, a study byUniversity of Houston Downtown professor Larry Karson found that more than half of commissioner-selected grand jurors had close ties to the legal system: They included judges, court employees and police.

Individually, those grand jurors are often pillars of the community. But as a group, can we really expect them to deliver justice? To represent the points of view of people not invited to the table?

The commissioner system isn’t fair. It doesn’t lead to justice. And it’s not even necessary. These days it’s used only in Texas and California. Federal courts, other states and even those six Harris County courts do fine without it. Texas should ban the system. And in the meantime, we urge judges to stop picking their pals.

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