Ohio County Judge Criticizes Prosecution Grand Jury Tactics

An Ohio County judge isn’t happy with tactics used by the county prosecutor’s office to obtain criminal indictments.

Circuit Judge David Sims says the office’s tactics are legal but they undermine the grand jury process.

The Intelligencer and Wheeling-News Register reports that Sims’ criticism came in a recent criminal case. A Wheeling police detective who wasn’t among the case’s initial investigators testified before the grand jury.

Sims denied a defense request to dismiss the case. But the newspaper says he added a note to the order saying the state could pull a random person off the street and have them read a police report to the grand jury.

Ohio County prosecutor Scott Smith says his office complies with the law.