TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Pima County Grand Jury has refused for a third time to re-indict a former Tucson Police officer in the shooting death of a man in a mobility scooter. The Grand Jury ruling, called a no-bill, means the Grand Jurors found the case against Ryan Remington was not strong enough to justify a jury trial.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover says her office re-submitted the case to the Grand Jury out of a commitment to achieving justice for the family of Richard Lee Richards. Now the case has been submitted three times for Grand Juries to consider. Conover says she does not intend to submit the case for further review.
WATCH PIMA COUNTY ATTORNEY LAURA CONOVER'S FULL STATEMENT ABOVE
A judge threw out the original indictment against former officer Ryan Remington. At the time the judge agreed with Remington’s attorney that a prosecutor gave Grand Jurors incomplete information when he convinced the Grand Jury to indict Remington.
Prosecutors had the option to present the case to Grand Jurors again. The second presentment resulted in the no-bill ruling. Now a third presentment has also resulted in Grand Jurors concluding the case was too weak to prosecute.
After the second no-bill, defense attorney Mike Storie said Grand Jurors were not told officers do not assume someone in a wheelchair is unable to stand up and walk. Storie argued Grand Jurors never heard evidence Richards was able to stand and move without his mobility scooter.
Remington shot and killed Richards in November of 2021. Witnesses said Richards stole a toolbox from a Walmart on West Valencia Road, brandished a knife, refused orders to stop, and rolled his mobility scooter into a nearby Lowe’s store.
Remington was not on duty for Tucson Police. He had been hired to supplement Walmart store security. Remington shot Richards multiple times when Richards continued forward into the Lowe’s.
Storie confirmed to KGUN9 he was told by the Deputy County Attorney who presented the case to the Grand Jury a second time that Grand Jurors decided on a no-bill.
Storie says even without an indictment, Remington is still formally charged in the case until a judge removes the charges.
