*News
Release* Date: December 12, 2011
Middlesex
County Prosecutor’s Office
Police shooting to be presented to grand jury
Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan announced today
that a thorough and intensive investigation into the fatal shooting of a
Additionally,
evidence has been collected and is being analyzed in an effort to ensure that a
fair and just conclusion will be reached in the investigation of the shooting
of Barry Deloatch, 46.
Forensic
testing of certain pieces of evidence is being conducted by the New Jersey
State Police. It is hoped that the results will be received by the Middlesex
County Prosecutor’s Office by the end of December.
Based
upon all of the facts and circumstances currently known, Prosecutor Kaplan has determined that,
pursuant to the New Jersey Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive governing
the review of use of deadly force cases, this matter will be scheduled and
presented to a Middlesex County grand jury early next year to determine whether
any criminal laws were violated. This
directive requires that unless the undisputed facts indicate that the use of
force was justifiable under the law, the matter must be presented to a grand
jury.
In
anticipation of that presentation, Prosecutor Kaplan has requested Superior
Court Judge Travis L. Francis, the assignment judge at the Middlesex County
Courthouse, empanel a special grand jury to hear testimony and review the
evidence painstakingly collected during the investigation into the shooting in
In
his request to Judge Francis, Prosecutor Kaplan emphasized the need to select a
new grand jury to make certain that the panel is free of any bias or prejudice
and unaffected by the intense news coverage generated by the shooting.
In
order to obtain an objective and timely review by a Middlesex County grand
jury, Prosecutor Kaplan also asked Judge Francis to require the panel of 23
ordinary citizens to meet on consecutive days until a decision is reached.
Presentation
of the case on a daily, rather than weekly basis, would serve to minimize any
unnecessary outside influences on the jury or the witnesses who appear before
it.
In
Middlesex County, grand juries meet once per week for 18 weeks to review cases.
Currently, there are four grand juries sitting in
Grand
juries are a function of the Superior Court and not the prosecuting agencies of
In the
interest of reaching a fair and just conclusion as quickly as possible, the
Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office believes that a special grand jury should
be created and dedicated to the review of this single case.
To
achieve that goal, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is prohibited from
describing evidence or disclosing the identities or specific statements of
those who have provided information in the case.
Furthermore,
court rules regarding grand jury secrecy preclude the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s
Office from disclosing any specific findings that the
jury may make other than the formal document it files with the court after the
panel has deliberated and voted.
Options
include handing up an indictment, known as a true bill, or taking
no action, or no bill, meaning that the jury found that that there was no
probable cause to return an indictment.
Within those confines, Prosecutor Kaplan previously
announced that 24 investigators from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office
have located and interviewed 37 people who were able to provide information
pertaining to the shooting.
In
addition, investigators recovered 38 items that have been marked as evidence.
Many of the items have been forwarded for forensic and ballistics examinations.
It
should be noted that the gun used in the shooting, and a single bullet that was
recovered, are among items that were sent for analysis.
All
of these fact witnesses and evidence, as well as expert testimony, will be made
available to the grand jury during the course of the state’s presentation.
Many
of the witnesses who were identified and/or came
forward, did so because of the assistance and encouragement from community
leaders and because of some of Mr. Deloatch’s relatives, who are cooperating
with law enforcement.
There
also was extensive canvassing over a period of several days by Middlesex County
Prosecutor’s Office investigators, who knocked on doors and distributed flyers.
It
also should be reported that the 37 people interviewed during the investigation
included police officers, emergency medical technicians who were called to the
scene, and civilians.
The
investigation began after Mr. Deloatch was shot in an alley between two homes
on
An
autopsy by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mr.
Deloatch was shot once in his left side and that the bullet pierced his aorta.
Anyone
who may have not yet come forward with information is asked to contact
Investigator Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at
(732) 745-3373.