N.Y attorney general releases grand jury transcripts in Daniel Prude case

Catch up quick: Law enforcement was called after Prude experienced a mental health crisis, his brother has said.

• Body-cam footage of Prude's arrest shows him naked, in the snowy street. Police put a mesh hood over his head and pinned him to the ground.
• Several minutes later, Prude lost consciousness. He was taken off life support a week later.
• A county medical examiner ruled Prude's death a homicide, arising from "complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint," with PCP listed as a contributing factor to his death.
• While his death initially garnered little attention, the release of the body-cam footage last September sparked several days of protests in Rochester, and Police Chief La'Ron Singletary was fired. Seven officers were also suspended.

Details: The grand jury heard from dozens of witnesses, including a medical expert who said the officers did nothing wrong, according to the transcripts.

• Another expert witness, however, said "the decision to keep [Prude] on his stomach for that period of time was, was unreasonable and against police practice."
• "The transcripts ... appear to show jurors grappling with a blizzard of technical information about police tactics, and expert testimonies that appeared at times to conflict," the New York Times notes.

What they're saying: "Our efforts to balance the scales of justice and ensure accountability can only go so far in the absence of transparency," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Friday.

• "We took the unprecedented action of seeking to release the grand jury transcripts because the public deserves to know what happened in these proceedings," she added.

Don Thompson, a lawyer for Prude's family, said he was "infuriated" about what he learned from the transcripts and the decision not to indict the officers involved, per NYT.

• “Who other than somebody who wears a special costume for their work gets this kind of deference in a homicide case? No one."

The big picture: The release of the transcripts comes amid the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of killing George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.