The Special Prosecutor assigned to the James Scurlock death investigation grand jury made his first public comments on the case on Wednesday.
Attorney Frederick Franklin was appointed last week by Judge Shelly Stratman.
Franklin opened his remarks by detailing his history, and why he was chosen to be the special prosecutor in this investigation. "I retired in May of 2019 from the U.S. Attorney's Office after more than 21 years of federal criminal prosecution. During those 21+ years of federal prosecutions, I was assigned to a unit that handled every type of federal prosecution that can be prosecuted within the federal district of Nebraska."
Before his time at the U.S. Attorney's office, Franklin worked at private law firms. He is a Creighton University Law School grad and has been a licensed attorney in Nebraska since 1986.
Franklin has lived in the Omaha metro for 40 years and spent ten of those years in North Omaha, buying his first house and starting his family there. "I not only consider myself well-qualified for the position, I consider myself...uniquely qualified for this position, I really do. I want the community to know that that is part of my background."
Part of Franklin's job with the U.S. Attorney's Office was to present cases in front of grand juries on a regular basis. "I was in front of federal grand juries almost every single month of the entire 21 years that I was at the U.S. Attorney's Office." Franklin went on to say he was well acquainted with putting witnesses in front of a grand jury. "I've put together cases using the grand jury process. I'm intimately acquainted with that process."
Franklin says he has started going over the evidence collected by the Omaha Police Department, saying the information collected so far was "voluminous". Although there is already mountains of evidence, Franklin says his team will still accept any additional evidence the public may have.
He thanked the Scurlock family for having the confidence in him to pursue this investigation. "For those that are wanting this thing to be hurried up and for it to be over and done with, I will just suggest to you that that is antithetical to the whole notion of the process that the family has requested take place and I intend to do justice to the process."
Once his team has gone over the evidence, he says they will decide on the most pertinent information to present to the grand jury and begin calling witnesses. Franklin says he'd like to get that process going "sooner rather than later." He is hoping to get a jury assembled by August.
Scurlock family attorney Justin Wayne released the following statement:
Today is the first step in a long process. The Scurlock family and I want to thank Judge Stratman for her thoroughness in selecting Mr. Franklin. He is an attorney and litigator that I greatly respect. Justice requires time and resources, which is why our county funds Don Kleine's office and puts the weight of the county behind it. I hope Mr. Franklin will have access to the same level of resources as he seeks Justice for James. I've never seen the county attorney litigate a case of this magnitude with just one attorney; generally they have at least two. I hope Mr. Franklin will receive the same for the grand jury process. Lastly, I hope Don Kleine's office will give Mr. Franklin a fair chance at litigating this matter and only comment if Don Kleine plans to pursue charges himself. Otherwise, additional public comments will only prejudice the process.