New York Attorney General Letitia James has moved to empanel a grand jury in the investigation into Daniel Prude's death in police custody. Prude was asphyxiated in March when Rochester police put a hood over his head and held him face-down. “The Prude family and the Rochester community have been through great pain and anguish,” she said in a statement. “My office will immediately move to empanel a grand jury as part of our exhaustive investigation into this matter.” James’ office had made no public comment about the Prude case—deemed a homicide by the coroner—before video of the incident released last week unleashed national outrage. It’s not clear why the decision to convene a grand jury was not made earlier in the process.
