ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The criminal case in the death of Daniel Prude is now closed following the grand jury’s decision, and attorneys on both sides are reacting.

Two defense attorneys together represented five of the seven officers involved in the Daniel Prude case say the grand jury’s decision to not indict was expected.

What You Need To Know

  • Attorneys on both sides are reacting following the grand jury’s decision in the Daniel Prude case 

  • Two defense attorneys representing five of the seven officers involved in the case say the grand jury’s decision to not indict was expected

  • Elliot Shields, who represents Prude’s siblings, says the decision is just another way the system failed Daniel Prude

  • Civil litigation is ongoing

“Nothing was done in an intentional or a reckless or negligent manner that led to this man’s death,” Matthew Rich, who represents four of the seven officers, said. “Which was tragic, certainly, and it was the culmination of a tragic series of events, but at the end of the day the officers conducted themselves in accordance with the policies and training of the Rochester Police Department, and did their duty.”

And defense attorney James Nobles, who is representing the fifth, says the grand jury’s decision should be respected.

“They’re the ones that, for months, sat in this grand jury presentation. Listened to hours and hours and hours of testimony very carefully, asked questions, analyzed evidence and they made a determination based on the law,” Nobles said.

Meanwhile, Elliot Shields, who represents Prude’s siblings, says the decision is just another way the system failed Daniel Prude.

“As we’ve seen grand juries convene to consider charges against police officers that kill unarmed Black people around the country, this is unfortunately the same result we see over and over again,” Shields said.

Rich blames the city administration for what happened to Prude, not the officers.

“This is their police department. They name the leadership, they set the policies, they can change the policies but none of the policies have been changed,” Rich said. “And people need to ask themselves why that is.”

Which is why given the grand jury’s decision, Rich is now calling on the city to reinstate the suspended officers.

“It’s a heck of a lot easier to turn poor, seven working guys trying to build careers as law enforcement officers out and make them the scapegoat than it is to admit your administration has made serious mistakes in terms of how it handled this situation and how it administers its own police department.” Rich said.

Meanwhile, Shields says the city is certainly culpable, he doesn’t believe the officers followed their training.

“In my opinion, a great injustice happened today. Because these grand jurors, what they decided, was they didn’t want to point the finger at these officers. Instead, they bought what these officers came in and testified to, and what these officers testified to was we followed our training,” Shields said.

And he says the officers don’t need to be found criminally guilty for the RPD to take appropriate disciplinary action.

“If they have any commitment to moving forward in the community, and healing the trauma of not only the Prude family but that our entire community is experiencing, they’ll do the right thing and fire these officers,” Shields said.

Civil litigation is ongoing.