August 11, 2008: Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi, Esq., First Assistant Prosecutor Thomas A. Zelante, Esq., and Deputy Chief of Investigations William Schievella announce the update into the events that led to the shooting death of Ruben Walter Martinez, age 21, who was shot by Denville Township Police Officer Richard Byrne on June 26, 2008.

The comprehensive and exhaustive investigation is moving to the next stage. Prosecutor Bianchi has decided to present the facts of this case to the Grand Jury.

Prosecutor Bianchi stated, "I want to make it perfectly clear that our decision to move this case to the Grand Jury phase in no way is to be taken as an indication that the Morris County Prosecutor's Office believes that a crime has been committed by the police officers. This action is simply taken pursuant to the Attorney General guidelines for police related shootings where a death has occurred. The video in this case captured much of the situation, but not every detail. We are obligated under those rules to either prepare a report to the Attorney General or present the matter to a Grand Jury. In this case, for complete integrity of this investigation, I am doing both. This ensures the maximum amount of checks and balances possible under the law.

I feel that for purposes of being complete and thorough that it is important to the Martinez family, Officer Byrne and his family, members of the Denville Township Police Department, and the public, that citizens of the county constituted in the form of a Grand Jury have the opportunity to pass upon all of the evidence, be able to call and question any witness that they see fit, subpoena any document or person to testify, and to pass upon the exhaustive evidence gathered.

In this way, regardless of the outcome, there can be complete confidence in the manner in which this investigation was handled.

Earlier today, I filed a motion requesting the empanelment of a special Grand Jury who can sit on consecutive days until this matter is concluded. A Grand Jury that sits only one day a week is a tremendous strain to all involved in this matter, and that will delay greatly the release of the full investigation to the public. It is my desire to conclude this matter and release the details of the investigation as soon as is practically possible. This motion is filed to achieve that result.

I am very sensitive to the public's right to know what happened here. Everyone must understand, however, that it is a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys and prosecutors to publically comment upon facts of a matter during an investigation or pendency of a court related matter, other than those matters that are contained in court documents, and on the record comments made during court proceedings.

Proceeding before the Grand Jury is a true and tried way to ensure that the matter is fully and fairly presented to the court and to ensure that the unbiased truth is the guiding principal.

In any event, I will publicly divulge the full set of facts at a time permitted by law. To release the video or any investigative facts sooner is an egregious violation of the ethics rules.

Investigations of this type take time if they are to be done correctly. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office legal and investigative team has been working very hard on this matter and have kept all interested parties fully apprised of the progress of the investigation. The public respectfully must understand that we will proceed in a calm and deliberate fashion and not be influenced to prematurely act or speak of the facts when it is legally inappropriate to do so.

My guiding principal is a full and fair investigation and presentation of the evidence, so that the truth is ascertained, and not to be rushed to judgment where sloppiness and other negative influences have the capacity to affect our attempts to ascertain the truth."

Media Contact: Agent Robyn D'Onofrio