This morning, The Washington Examiner reported that U.S. Attorney Ron Machen was outsourcing the investigation of the June 8, 2009 shooting death of Trey Joyner at the hands of US Park Police. The US Attorney’s office in Philadelphia will now review the case.
Law enforcement sources familiar with the probe say that Machen’s predecessor, Channing Phillips, was urged to hand the investigation off last year — in part because the prosecutor’s office was one of the main agencies coordinating “Operation Safe Streets,” which brought Park Police into fatal contact with Joyner.
DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton had called for an outside review from the beginning.
Law enforcement sources add, however, that an initial review by Justice Department civil rights lawyer Roy Austin — a veteran of the U.S. Attorney’s office in DC — found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Park Police.
This puts Machen in a vise. On one side are Joyner’s community and Norton, who are outraged by Joyner’s death. On the other side are cops and prosecutors who say there isn’t a case and will be furious if one is brought.
Austin declined comment.
Machen is said by colleagues and friends to be very concerned about his publicity: the Joyner case is therefore his first real test as top federal prosecutor.
