MORE THAN ONE FBI REPORT ON MELEE IS LIKELY

The FBI report that some people viewed earlier than Cape Girardeau officials likely isn't the only one prepared by agents, said an FBI spokesman.

Over the course of an investigation, reports are prepared at different stages to track progress, said Gary Fuhr, an FBI special agent in St. Louis. What is in a report depends on who is supposed to receive it, he said.

"It's like packaging a product for a customer," Fuhr said.

The FBI had provided a report for Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle shortly before Jan. 21 at the request of Cape Girardeau Police Chief Rick Hetzel. The report was the result of investigations by FBI agents into possible civil rights violations by police stemming from a confrontation between police and a crowd estimated at 150 in the 400 block of Good Hope Street early in the morning on June 11.

Besides the prosecutor's copy, Hetzel said the police have the report. Attorneys representing defendants with pending cases were given copies by the prosecutor to fulfill legal demands for disclosure. Through those attorneys, Swingle said, copies were given to others who shouldn't have them.

"The attorney's are really at liberty to do with the reports what they want," Fuhr said.

It is not uncommon for the FBI to provide investigation reports to prosecutors, Fuhr said. However, most investigations are done for the U.S. attorney's office to be heard in federal court.

When a request for an investigation is made, it is reviewed by the chief attorney at an FBI division office. "It's possible that he could decide to release just part of an investigation," Fuhr said.

In the investigation report given to Swingle, various documents are dated from June 21 to July 19. The final page of the report shows that FBI agent Pat Gorham spoke with Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Ferrell on July 19 about the investigation. At that point Gorham wrote that Ferrell would withhold his opinion about actions requiring prosecution until he reviewed the entire report.

Ferrell said this week that he had reviewed the final report and issued an opinion about prosecution, which would be reviewed by the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ferrell declined to say when he had given his opinion on prosecution or how long the process to reach a final decision might take.

Once an investigation has been received by the Justice Department, an attorney will be assigned to review the report, and together with the U.S. attorney's office make a collaborative decision about prosecution, Fuhr said.

Both attorneys are included in the decision making because it allows the opinion to be more consistent on a national basis, Fuhr said.

"Say you have some sort of racial problems going on in Los Angeles," he said. "This process allows that the decision will not necessarily be influenced by what's going on locally."

Jury trials for the two remaining defendants, brothers Greg and Kenneth Campbell, were postponed but have been rescheduled. Greg Campbell will be on trial in Boone County on a change of venue May 16. Kenneth Campbell's trial is scheduled for May 23 in Jefferson County.