,i #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #eggi ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,february #f1 #bjbj,mr4 ,johnson of ,georgia 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,clay1 ,mr4 ,hastings1 ,mr4 ,david ,scott of ,georgia1 ,mr4 ,cicilline1 ,ms4 ,moore1 ,mr4 ,jeffries1 ,ms4 ,schakowsky1 ,ms4 ,kelly of ,illinois1 ,mr4 ,meeks1 ,mr4 ,thompson of ,mississippi1 ,mr4 ,richmond1 ,mr4 ,butterfield1 ,ms4 ,plaskett1 ,ms4 ,wilson of ,florida1 ,ms4 ,omar1 ,mr4 ,rush1 ,ms4 ,pressley1 ,ms4 ,clarke of ,new ,york1 ,ms4 ,tlaib1 and ,mr4 ,cohen7 introduced the following bill2 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 person1 and thereby causes the death of that person1 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 person1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,grand ,jury ,reform ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,findings ,the ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,grand juries are typically used as the process by which allegations of police misconduct are prosecuted4 7#b7 ,there exists a symbiotic relationship between local prosecutors and the law enforcement officers who regularly testify in routine grand jury investigations4 7#c7 ,the closeness of this relationship creates public suspicion that accused police officers receive preferential consideration from grand juries when they are subject to grand jury investigations4 7#d7 ,police officers have the right to appear before the grand jury investigating allegations of wrongdoing by said officer1 and give testimony not subject to a thorough cross examination4 7#e7 ,grand jury proceedings are by law secret proceedings4 7#f7 ,the secret grand jury process has historically resulted in a refusal to indict when the subject of their investigation is a local law enforcement officer4 7#g7 ,the recent grand jury proceedings following the deaths of ,michael ,brown and ,eric ,garner have followed historical tradition1 ending with a refusal to indict the law enforcement officers involved in their deaths4 7#h7 ,the ,american people have lost confidence in the secretive grand jury process when it is used to evaluate allegations of police misconduct4 7#i7 ,the loss of confidence in our system of justice leads to the undermining of the principles of equality and justice upon which this country was founded4 7#aj7 ,preliminary hearings are often replaced with direct presentments1 whereby the prosecutor may send a case directly to the grand jury without a public preliminary hearing4 #c4 ,hearing before a judge required 7a7 ,receipt of grant funds ,in order for a ,state or unit of local government in a ,state to be eligible to receive ,federal funding under subpart #a of part ,e of title ,i of the ,omnibus ,crime ,control and ,safe ,streets ,act of #aifh 7#cd ,u4,s4,c4 #ajaea et seq471 the ,state shall comply with the requirements of this section4 7b7 ,notification requirements 7#a7 ,notification to prosecutor ,in the case of a law enforcement officer of a local law enforcement agency who uses deadly force against a person in the course of the officer's employment1 and thereby causes the death of that person1 not later than #bd hours after the death occurs1 the chief officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which the death occurred shall report the death to the elected prosecutor of that locality4 7#b7 ,notification to ,governor ,not later than #bd hours after receiving notice under paragraph 7#a71 the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred shall report the death to the ,governor of that ,state4 7c7 ,hearing requirement2 appointment of special prosecutor 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #c days after receiving notice under subsection 7b77#b71 the ,governor of the ,state in which the death occurred shall appoint a special prosecutor to present evidence on behalf of the ,state at a hearing before a judge in the appropriate court1 in order to determine whether probable cause exists for the ,state to bring criminal charges against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of the person1 which determination shall be made by the judge4 ,the ,governor shall use a random process to select the special prosecutor from among all of the elected prosecutors in the ,state1 excluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred4 7#b7 ,timing ,the hearing described in paragraph 7#a7 shall be held not later than #ij days after the appointment of the special prosecutor1 unless the judge determines that good cause exists to delay the hearing4 7#c7 ,court ,to ,remain ,open to the ,public ,except as determined appropriate by the presiding judge1 in a hearing described in paragraph 7#a71 the court shall remain open to the public1 and upon scheduling the hearing the judge shall provide notice to the public of the date1 time1 and location of the hearing4 7d7 ,state law enforcement agency ,to have exclusive authority over investigation 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #bd hours after receiving notice under subsection 7b77#b71 the ,governor shall report the death to the chief officer of the ,state law enforcement agency of the ,state in which the death occurred1 and the ,state law enforcement agency shall assume exclusive control of the investigation of the death during the pendency of the probable cause hearing4 7#b7 ,cooperation of local law enforcement agency ,the chief officer of the law enforcement agency of the locality in which the death occurred shall cooperate with the special prosecutor and the chief officer of the ,state law enforcement agency by responding promptly to requests for information related to the death4 7e7 ,written determination of probable cause ,not later than #e days after the conclusion of a hearing described in subsection 7c71 the judge presiding over the hearing shall issue the determination described in subsection 7c7 in writing1 and shall submit such determination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred4 ,such determination shall be made available to the public4 7f7 ,recommendations of the special prosecutor ,upon the conclusion of a hearing described in subsection 7c71 the special prosecutor shall submit written recommendations to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred1 including a recommendation regarding whether criminal charges should be brought against the law enforcement officer relating to the death of the person4 7g7 ,tolling of procedural deadlines ,any applicable filing or other procedural deadlines are tolled during the pendency of the hearing described in subsection 7c74 7h7 ,preservation of prosecutorial discretion ,the hearing described in subsection 7c7 shall be purely advisory1 and shall have no binding effect on the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred4 ,after the conclusion of the hearing described in subsection 7c71 the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred shall retain prosecutorial discretion as to whether to bring charges against the law enforcement officer1 including whether to hold a grand jury proceeding in the appropriate court4