The Cleveland NAACP will file a motion early next week asking a judge to release transcripts of the Tamir Rice grand jury proceedings. The group says it will make the request without the help of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty. McGinty rejected a call to release the transcripts because he does not have the authority. WKSU’s Kevin Niedermier reports.
The motion will go to county judge Nancy O’Donnell who presided over the Rice grand jury, which did not indict the officers involved in the shooting death of the 12-year-old. Prosecutor McGinty had recommended that no indictments be made. Cleveland NAACP president Michael Nelson says the transcripts should be released to show the public that the proceedings were fair. And Nelson contends that McGinty made expert testimony presented to the grand jury public, so why not release everything?
“He has categorized the information he released as investigative. But if it was discussed in the grand jury, presented to the grand jury and part of the deliberations, that means he’s waved the secrecy of the grand jury. He’s trying to play both offense and defense and you can’t do that.”
McGinty says the investigative reports are not part of the transcripts.
