"The Most Difficult Decision of My Career"

( Hamilton County ) - Prosecutor Joe Deters walked to the podium on Tuesday afternoon and got right to the point: "Good afternoon. In the case of Raymond Tensing, it is the decision--not of my office, but it's my decision--that he will not be tried a third time." 

The prosecutor then spent the next twenty minutes explaining his rationale and defending the work of his office since 2015, when then-UC Police Officer Ray Tensing fatally shot Sam DuBose after a traffic stop near campuse. Deters says he interviewed members of the second jury that deadlocked in June, and he says nearly all of them told him that they didn't believe a conviction was possible. He says his office was "relentless... we fought everything... we did everything we could to secure a conviction because we believed in that case." 

Legal issues may not be totally gone. Deters says his office has been contacted by the US Attorney of Southern Ohio, Benjamin Glassman, as they explore filing possible civil rights violations against Tensing. Deters says Glassman's office contacted him, and "I'm hopeful that the US Attorney's office will see fit to proceed in this matter, because they can admit evidence that we could not before."

The family of Sam DuBose spoke outside the Hamilton County Courthouse. Terina Allen [pictured below], the sister of Sam DuBose, says this case has "consumed" her life. She says today's decision sends a message to "bad cops" officers that all they have to do is "run out the clock" and they'll be released.

There's no word yet from the US Attorney's office on its plans for the Tensing case going forward.