The resignation letter says that the prosecutor’s office has not referred a case to the panel to review since before the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, and fewer than 10 cases have been sent to the panel since 2018.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Five community members resigned Monday from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office’s team that reviews potential wrongful convictions, citing the unit’s prolonged inactivity.
“We feel strongly that our participation in a process that exists in name only, serves as mere window dressing, with no real substantive impact, is not useful,” the letter said.The letter said that the members met with O’Malley and his staff several times earlier this year to address their concerns. O’Malley told the members that he was committed to the prosecutor’s office housing a conviction integrity unit.
The members could not reach an agreement with O’Malley to revamp the unit, leading to their decision to resign from the board, the letter said. “We thank and acknowledge the hard work of the External Review Panel, the personal time they put in, and their efforts throughout the years,” O’Malley’s statement said. “Regretfully, for the great work of the CIU to continue, it became apparent the program would need to change.
Before the policy change, there was an internal group of assistant prosecutors and an outside attorney that investigated cases, then referred them to an external review panel that is made up entirely of community members. The panel then recommended to O’Malley whether aUnder the new policy in place since March 2020, the external panel only gets consulted if both O’Malley and the internal panel made up of prosecutors determine the investigative group did not conduct a thorough enough probe.
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