PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - Circuit Court judges in Virginia have denied a prosecutor’s request for a special grand jury to investigate the death of a jail inmate.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales filed a motion Wednesday seeking a special grand jury in the death of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell.
Media outlets report the three judges turned down the request Friday. The judges said Morales had not given any reason to impanel a grand jury.
Morales quickly filed a motion appealing the decision.
Mitchell, who had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, was jailed in April 2015 on charges he stole $5 worth of snacks from a 7-Eleven.
He was ordered to a state mental hospital, but was never sent there. He died four months later of heart failure accompanied by severe weight loss, a medical examiner said.
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