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District Attorney Stephen Tyler, Police Chief Bruce Ure and Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor met earlier this year to patch a months-long rift.
The talks didn’t erase problems, though. For example, the same week officials agreed to more open communication, O’Connor stomped out of the courtroom where Jeffery Grimsinger was being sentenced to life in prison for Sally Blackwell’s murder. Tyler hadn’t told O’Connor about the high-profile plea deal, he said.
And this week’s indictments could lead to what is, by definition, an adversarial relationship: city and police officials sitting at the defense table, across from Tyler.
But so far, it’s hard to tell how the indictments will affect the local criminal justice system, especially since the most popular answer to questions seems to be variations on “no comment.”
“I can’t predict what the results will be,” District Judge Juergen “Skipper” Koetter said earlier this week, after the grand jury indicted Ure. Koetter mediated discussions between the officials. Before the indictments, Koetter said the chief of police, district attorney and sheriff did their job well, but squabbled like kids in a sandbox.
Both Tyler and Ure said last week their day-to-day operations won’t change. “I’m sure there are personal feelings that have changed,” said Captain Kevin Kelso. “But professionally, nothing has changed.”
Ure directed questions about how the department is working with Tyler’s office to Kelso. Officers will go out, solve crimes and, when they think they’ve collected enough evidence, they’ll bring it to the district attorney’s office, Kelso said.
“We have very minimal interaction with them, except for case work,” Kelso said. “We do call there and ask for advice sometimes.”
Tyler’s criticism of police cases fueled the feud, at least in part. But Ure’s indictment doesn’t damage his perception of the cases police bring to him, he said.
“I trust the police to follow the law, do what they’re sworn to do and tell me the truth,” Tyler said. “I have no indication officers are not going to do their work. I think the quality of their work is forever improving.”
In fact, publicly, Tyler has piled praise on detectives who arrested three suspects in a 2006 murder and connected a convict to the October slaying of a 17-year-old man.
“Enforcement of standards does not mean there is a systemic breakdown,” Tyler said.
The relationship between police and prosecutors isn’t exactly warm, though, Kelso said. Kelso’s been with the Victoria Police Department for 21 years. He called the rapport between past district attorneys and police “much more friendly and welcoming.”
“You just know when you’re welcome somewhere and when you’re not,” Kelso said.
The indictments aren’t something Tyler did to city leaders, and that’s important to remember, Koetter said. After examining the evidence, the grand jury discusses it and votes in secret – without Tyler in the room, Koetter said. Only the grand jury can decide there’s enough evidence to indict.
“Whatever they heard, and I’m not privy to that, those 12 grand jurors decided this needed to be brought into the criminal justice system,” Koetter said.
Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor wasn’t available to be interviewed for this story. But after Ure and Smith’s arrest Tuesday, he issued a warning to criminals.
“If they think the have a grace period here, they’re gravely mistaken,” O’Connor said.