Maryland DA Wins Accountability Tussle With Sheriff in Shooting Probe

Harford County, MD, Circuit Court Judge Yolanda L. Curtin has ordered Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler to turn over all evidence to Maryland state officials in a fatal shooting by deputies, granting Attorney General Brian E. Frosh a temporary restraining order against him, reports the Washington Post. Frosh has accused Gahler of impeding his office’s investigation by withholding evidence such as videos, police radio transmissions and witness information in relation to the use-of-force death of 53-year-old John Raymond Fauver. Curtin said that the language of a law enacted last year obviously intended for state officials, rather than local law enforcement agencies, to conduct independent investigations of such shootings.

The decision was welcomed by Maryland lawmakers. “What we wanted was a more uniform, statewide approach to how investigations of police killings are conducted,” said Marrylands delegate David Moon (D-Montgomery), vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who worked on police accountability legislation last year. “I’m glad to see the courts resolved this quickly in favor of the attorney general.” Gahler has contested Frosh’s authority under the new law, and recently accused the attorney general, who is retiring in January, 2023, of launching a “politically motivated attack.”