ORINDA (KRON) — The attorney representing some of the families of victims in the Orinda Halloween shooting is questioning why the four men were arrested in the first place now that the district attorney has determined there is not enough evidence to charge them.
“It’s a horrible thing to do,” said civil rights attorney John Burris.
Burris says although charges are being dropped against the four men arrested for the Halloween shooting in Orinda, the potential for lasting damage for their personal lives has already been done
“To accuse people of a notorious crime, these are outrageous crimes, crimes of the era, crimes of the century, if you will, at least for now and then to parade them, accuse them of these crimes and then haul them off to jail,” Burris said. “And no matter what they do in life there will be somebody who will remember that in fact they were arrested for this outrageous crime.
Burris says this is another consideration — the emotional toll put on the families of the victims, three of whom he now represents, that were hoping to find closure only to be disappointed
“I don’t know what these young people did or not,” Burris said. “Creating these kinds of emotional highs then letting them down is very difficult for families, particularly whose person essentially went to a party and didn’t come home.”
Officials with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office say they stand by their investigation and that the persons arrested and responsible for these crimes will ultimately be held accountable and that the investigation is ongoing.