FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Outgoing Fairfax County prosecutor Raymond F. Morrogh, who was trying to pursue charges against Park Police officers who shot 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar, has run out of time. He leaves the job January 1st and it's unclear if his successor will follow suit with charges.
Morrogh was trying to seek charges against two U.S. Park Police officers who killed an unarmed motorist, after a chase on a northern Virginia highway two years ago.
The unarmed Ghaisar died after being shot multiple times by Park Police officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya on Nov. 17, 2017.
The Washington Post reports that Morrogh tried twice recently to get charges filed, but a letter from Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) revealed it won't happen again in 2019 because of the time left in the year.
"Based on the information available at this time, the Department cannot prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the two USPP officers committed willful violations of the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute when they shot Mr. Ghaisar," the Justice Department said in a press release.
Morrogh said earlier in December that an attempt to present the case to a grand jury was delayed pending the D.C. U.S. attorney's approval of FBI testimony.
Fairfax County attorneys declined to comment, but the Ghaisar family attorney, Roy Austin, commented on the family's appreciation of the actions of the Commonwealth Attorney's Office.
"The Ghaisar Family appreciates all of the recent efforts by Commonwealth Attorney Ray Morrogh to obtain justice for Bijan," Austin said. "After the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office did what the Federal Government has never done - kept them informed of the status of the investigation - it is now more clear than ever that individuals at DOJ are not only refusing to do their jobs but are preventing others from doing what is right."
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