One of the reasons that police officers who kill in the line of duty rarely face criminal charges is that prosecutors—meaning, the officials who are typically in charge of deciding whether to pursue such charges—have extremely close working relationships with their local law enforcement agencies. Prosecutors and police officers collaborate in all sorts of ways when investigating crimes, and police often end up being key witnesses for the state in court proceedings. The consequence is that prosecutors tend to look favorably upon police decision-making, and feel a political responsibility to avoid alienating cops.
That’s why it’s significant that Hillar C. Moore III, the district attorney for East Baton Rouge, announced Monday that he has recused himself from the investigation of Alton Sterling’s death at the hands of two Baton Rouge police officers last week. Sterling, whose fatal shooting helped unleash a wave of national protests and gave a renewed sense of urgency to the Black Lives Matter movement, was selling CDs outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge last Tuesday morning when two police officers tackled him. In a pair of widely circulated videos filmed by bystanders with cell phones, one of the officers could be seen shooting Sterling at point blank range. They had arrived at the scene after a 911 caller reported being threatened by a man with a gun.
During a short morning press conference, Moore said he had frequently worked with the parents of Blane Salamoni, the officer who shot Sterling, both of whom have also served as police officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department. A report released by the DA’s office Monday said the careers and professional responsibilities of the two parents “have often overlapped and interacted directly with the District Attorney.” According to the report, Salamoni’s mother has worked with Moore on “more than 400 homicides” since 2009, while his father during the same period “has commanded the department’s special operations unit and, in this capacity, has personally and alongside others in his unit provided the District Attorney, his family, and individuals on his staff with 24 hour security coverage when needed.”
Because of his relationships with the officer’s parents, Moore said the Louisiana Attorney General’s office would either take over the criminal investigation or assign it to a prosecutor from elsewhere in the state.
Last week, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said Sterling’s death would be the subject of a federal investigation by the civil rights division of the Department of Justice and the FBI. A statement from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Monday indicated that state prosecutors would look into potential charges only after the federal investigation is completed.
