CINCINNATI — Some people are calling for Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich to clear the Cincinnati police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Ryan Hinton, including in her Facebook comments. But that decision may depend on whether the case is presented before a grand jury.
On May 1, officers with the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) said they became aware of a stolen vehicle at an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Warsaw Avenue. When police approached the vehicle, four people ran from it, Police Chief Teresa Theetge said. She said at least one of them, identified as Hinton, was armed with a gun.
The officer, whose name has not been released, said in police interviews that Hinton was pointing the gun at police. Theetge cited Marsy's Law as a reason for withholding the officer's name.
Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco held a press conference last week to discuss the autopsy. The press conference was initially pushed back after the coroner's office stated that it had received a grand jury subpoena.
WATCH: When could we find out if the officer is cleared or not?
"In my 13 years as coroner, I've never been served with a grand jury subpoena," Sammarco said.
WCPO 9 wanted to learn more about what it would look like if this case were presented before a grand jury.
We sat down with Mark Piepmeier, who worked in the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office for more than 40 years. Before retiring last month, Piepmeier spent the majority of those years as chief assistant prosecutor and head of the office's criminal division.
Part of his job included going to scenes following a police shooting to help determine if the shooting was justified. He was also part of the team that originally prosecuted former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing, who was accused killing Samuel DuBose during a traffic stop.
"The standard is, basically, a police officer is justified if there is a threat to himself or the public, and if the threat is severe enough to use deadly force, he's taught to use deadly force," Piepmeier said.
We asked if it was rare, in his experience, to present a case of a police shooting before a grand jury.
"Yes," Piepmeier said. "On one hand, I can count them."
Piepmeier said in cases of police shootings that he dealt with, if an officer was clearly justified, then that decision would be made fairly quickly. However, he said some cases aren't as clear, and those were the ones that were more likely to be presented to a grand jury.
He said the coroner's subpoena doesn't mean the case will be presented before a grand jury, but he said the public pressure may add to that decision.
"If there was so much divisiveness out there, sometimes it's a better decision to say 'fine, we are going to let a group of citizens that don't have a dog in the fight make the decision,'" Piepmeier said. "If you present it to a grand jury, now it is in their hands."
Piepmeier said, if a prosecutor wants to present evidence to a grand jury, they will be thorough in what is shown. He said that may include testimony from the officer who shot and killed Hinton.
"Any officer that was there and saw what happened, any footage that you have of what happened, any ballistics that might explain what happened," Piepmeier said.
He said if the case is presented to a grand jury, he would expect a quick turnaround for their decision. He said typically it takes a couple of hours for a ruling to be given.
He also said grand jurors would be given information on what led up to the shooting, such as how Hinton was in a stolen car and in possession of a gun.
Piepmeier said there are nine people on a grand jury. For there to be an indictment, he said, seven jurors need to vote to indict, otherwise, it's dismissed.
He tells us that this case is difficult because it isn't clear-cut either way.
"It is a split-second decision, and you're not asking everybody to be perfect, but was it reasonable what he did? That's what the grand jury would be looking at," Piepmeier said.
