Law Enforcement
Inquest: Too Many Cooks
October 29, 2005 
Too many cooks “spoil the broth” and the same is true for investigations.
In the the case of the tragic police shooting death of 16-year-old Matthew Jones it is time to start serving up “the broth” from the inquiries. The FBI has been called in for a civil rights investigation and we figure that move is out of frustration on the part of someone.
In an effort to be impartial and thorough, this case is beginning to look like a FEMA operation! No one is in charge and no one is telling the public what happened with their police last December.
So far the Boise Police, Meridian Police (as a task force member), Ada County Coroner, Boise City Ombudsman, and now the FBI are looking into the death. They all seem to be waiting for the results of the coroner’s inquest and that is on hold.
The system is flawed when taxpayer money and hundreds–if not thousands–of man hours are expended seeking the truth, but results of those investigations will not be examined by jurors during the coroner’s inquest.
The GUARDIAN has refrained from discussing any of the facts or rumors of the case, but we have called for the Ada County Prosecutor to bow out due to conflict of interest.
The public is quickly losing faith in the system as allegations have surfaced on KTVB Channel 7 of the coroner deferring the inquest until after city elections. These charges are quickly followed by denials on the part of the coroner and former police chief. Letter writers to this blog have also called into question the motives of officials. Meanwhile the IDAHO STATESMAN has called into question the coroner’s contention that an impartial jury could not be seated.
THE GUARDIAN suggests that all parties involved prepare their final reports and conclusions. The coroner or his designated legal counsel should subpoena the investigators AND their reports to appear before the inquest.
It is absurd to hand pick a jury and then feed them only bits and pieces from the pot. The jurors AND the public deserve to smell the contents of the entire pot. Then we as a society can decide if it tastes good enough to swallow.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Oct 29, 2005, 11:43 am
Amen and amen!
Nov 7, 2005, 10:57 am
My take on the whole issue is that it is a tempest in a teacup. The kid’s death could probably have been avoided if his parents had exercised more parental control. My wife and I raised six kids. It would have been a cold day in hell, before I would have called the cops, because I couldn’t control my own kid’s behavior. A 16-year old, who is allowed to be drunk, have drugs and weapons in his bedroom and who could get away with acting like a menace with a rifle and bayonet? C’mon, if this kid would have been taken behind the woodshed a long time ago, this BS would never have happened.