Special grand jury weighing Jayland Walker's shooting expected to continue into next week

The big question everyone has been asking this week about the special grand jury examining the fatal shooting of Jayland Walker by Akron officers has been: When will they finish?

The answer, it appears, is sometime next week.

The jurors, who convened Monday in Summit County Common Pleas Court, weren't expected to wrap up by the end of the day Friday, according to several courthouse sources.

No announcement about a decision in the case was made by late Friday afternoon, when the courthouse was closed.

The grand jury will reconvene Monday morning.

Special grand jury: What to know about the process for reviewing Jayland Walker's shooting

How long the jurors will continue into next week, though, remains unclear.

Walker, 25, was shot more than 40 times by eight officers on June 27 after fleeing from police in his car and by foot. He was unarmed but police say he fired a single shot during the car chase. A gun was found in his car after the shooting.

Walker’s shooting resulted in numerous protests in Akron, with dozens of people arrested and police at times deploying tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowds. Several downtown businesses were damaged and fires were set.

Akron Chief Steve Mylett requested that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), an arm of the Attorney General’s Office, investigate Walker’s shooting.

With the BCI probe concluded, Attorney General Dave Yost then asked for a special grand jury to be convened for up to two weeks to consider Walker’s shooting – and no other cases.

Jayland Walker: What the state investigation of fatal Akron police shooting may reveal

Grand jurors to consider reasonableness standard for Walker shooting

After jurors hear all the evidence, they will have the task of answering whether the actions of the officers was “objectively reasonable,” a standard established for evaluating use-of-force claims in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1989 decision in Graham v. Connor.

Jurors must decide this based on how a reasonable officer would have responded in this situation, according to the Supreme Court decision.

If at least seven of the nine grand jurors determine the actions of the officers weren’t reasonable, they must then decide if there is probable cause that the officers committed a crime.

The jurors must make this determination for each of the eight Akron officers. They could decide to indict none, all or some of the officers.

Akron prepares for possible protests in reaction to grand jury

Akron leaders are concerned about what the reaction will be to the grand jury’s decision and have prepared by erecting fencing and concrete barriers around the courthouse and boarding up some windows in City Hall. Public access to City Hall and the Harold K. Stubbs building, which houses the police department and Akron courts, have temporarily been suspended, with arraignments being done remotely.

More: Akron Police Chief Mylett discusses protest zone, department's plan for protests

At noon Friday, classes in the University of Akron's Polsky and College of Business buildings were moved to remote online learning until further notice, the university said. Both buildings are downtown near city offices.

Because Akron Early College uses UA's Polsky Building, the school will have a "calamity day" Monday, according to a statement Friday from Mary Outley, interim superintendent of Akron Public Schools. Outley said information on the other APS schools located downtown, STEM High School and its middle school, would be sent to parents by the facilities' principals.

The Summit County Courthouse, however, has remained open, with the special grand jury meeting and other pressing court matters going forward.

“We will continue to monitor for any circumstances that would advise differently,” said Kathryn Michael, the administrative judge.

From our editor: Why local journalists matter for covering the Jayland Walker case from beginning to end

For Friday only, Michael said everyone at the courthouse was asked to leave by 4 p.m. because of a possible protest planned that evening at an initially undisclosed location.

Susan Baker Ross, the presiding judge whose duties include overseeing the grand jury, said the 4 p.m. cutoff also applied to the special grand jury.

Plans for a protest Friday evening were announced on social media and through flyers posted around the city. Organizers later said the protest was to take place in the Highland Square neighborhood.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jayland Walker grand jury decision: Here's what we know