GRAND JURY SHOULD HAVE HEARD ELIZABETHTOWN SHOOTING CASE

Hardin County Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Shaw would like us to
believe that the death of Harold G. "Jay" Lee Jr. was in some way
justified because Lee was allegedly involved in illegal drug activity.

" . . . the evidence shows Mr. Lee chose to be involved with the drug
trade and brought illegal activity from his county into mine," Shaw
said. "Those who chose to be involved in the manufacturing and
trafficking of methamphetamine have a stark reality they must face --
in time they will either be in jail or dead."

Shaw issued this statement while announcing he would not ask a grand
jury to consider criminal charges against Elizabethtown police
officer William Bland, who killed Lee when his gun accidentally
discharged following a pursuit.

Lee, of Owensboro, was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a
high-speed chase with police that ended after tire deflation devices
were used in Hardin County. The driver jumped out of the vehicle and
fled while Lee remained in the passenger's seat.

The officer approached the vehicle with his gun drawn, and it
accidentally fired as he attempted to remove Lee. The shot struck the
officer in the left thumb and hit Lee in the right temporal area,
killing him. Police later found components used to manufacture
methamphetamine in the vehicle.

The prosecutor is right in his denouncing the trafficking of
methamphetamine. It's an insidious drug that has ravaged much of
western Kentucky, and we've long supported strong crackdowns against
production and trafficking. But we don't think anyone would argue
that those crackdowns should amount to the death sentence Lee
received.

Lee wasn't the person driving the car, wasn't the one endangering the
lives of police officers, and based on reports, didn't attempt to
struggle with the officer.

We have no reason to doubt that the shot was fired accidentally. It's
hard to believe that the officer, a 10-year veteran of the force,
would shoot his own thumb while attempting to fire on a suspect. That
being said, this was a decision that should have been made by a grand
jury, not the prosecutor.

That's why the grand jury is impaneled -- to bring together, ideally,
a cross section of the community to determine if a crime has been
committed and what charges, if any, should be filed.

We wonder if Shaw didn't take a "homer" stance on this issue, feeling
that he would get more support at the voting booth by standing behind
the hometown officer rather than a victim, who lived more than 100
miles away, and whom he could portray as a drug dealer.

Shaw handled the matter much differently than a recent police
shooting in Daviess County. When Sheriff's Deputy Barry Smith shot
Calvin Paul in February, there was little doubt he fired in
self-defense. Paul had already allegedly killed one woman and
attempted to shoot Smith and another woman, but his gun didn't fire.

Yet, Commonwealth's Attorney Jay Wethington still asked a grand jury
to review the case and it rightly issued a finding that the shooting
was justified -- questions answered, case closed.

The Hardin County Commonwealth's Attorney would have done well -- and
better served justice -- to take the same approach.