PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia judge dismissed all charges Tuesday against former city police Officer Ryan Pownall, ruling that prosecutors had failed years ago to provide proper legal instructions to a grand jury as it weighed whether to charge him with murder in a 2017 on-duty shooting.
Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara A. McDermott said there were “so many things wrong” with how the district attorney’s office instructed grand jurors before they approved a presentment recommending murder charges in the landmark case.
In particular, McDermott said during a pretrial hearing, prosecutors had failed to provide the panel with information on how and when officers are legally justified in firing their weapons. “How could the grand jury do (its) job without knowing that?” she asked.
