One month. Two dead suspects. Three police officers not convicted.

        Cincinnati watched as two officers accused in a suspect's death left the courthouse free men last week. A third, acquitted a month ago in the shooting of another man, prepared to return to court Monday to have the incident expunged from his record.

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        The perceived triple injustice drew serious fire from many in the city's African-American community. Some, including the family of victim Roger Owensby Jr., accused Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen of lame prosecutions. Others simply said Cincinnati can't get justice.

        “I haven't been following them that close, but it does seem strange that all of them have been acquitted,” said Jim Kramer, 45, who gives tourists horse-drawn carriage rides downtown.

        But national experts say it might have been short-sighted — or just too hopeful — for Cincinnatians to expect justice through convictions. Across the country, most officers in similar cases are found not guilty. One expert says prosecuting one individual cop won't bring systemic change anyway.

        Samuel Walker, author and professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska who recently visited as a consultant for Cincinnati CAN, suggests that cities rely more on making fundamental changes in the structure of their police forces.

        “It's much less dramatic,” he said. “It's quieter and it involves a lot of work. But that's what will ultimately reform a police department.”

        Juries have trouble sorting out evidence in police use-of-force cases because they know officers are allowed to use some force. A U.S. Supreme Court case, Tennessee v. Garner, says officers can use the amount of force that a reasonable officer would use, and that the decision to use that force cannot be judged later with 20/20 hindsight.

        “That doesn't mean officers cannot be indicted or convicted in excessive use-of-force cases,” said Keith Fangman, president of the Fraternal Order of Police. “It simply means that the bar is raised because the Supreme Court had the wisdom to realize that sometimes people violently resist arrest. And when we react to that violent resistance, sometimes it isn't pretty.”

        Juries are left to determine whether the officers went beyond the force their “professional discretion” allows, said James J. Fyfe, a Temple University criminal justice professor and former New York City police lieutenant.

        Criminal law, he said, is designed to answer simple yes/no questions, such as “Was this a robbery?”

        Criminal cases involving officers and force are different because they involve questions of degree, like, “We know the military was supposed to bomb that area, but was it a crime when they also hit the homes of those innocent civilians?”

        “These are very tough questions for juries to resolve,” he said, “because they involve complicated professional standards rather than yes/no choices.”

        Mr. Allen has defended his prosecutors' work, saying the two who handled the case against Officer Robert “Blaine” Jorg were among his best and most experienced. Jurors acquitted Officer Jorg of misdemeanor assault but could not agree on the more serious, felony charge of involuntary manslaughter.

        “I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's difficult to convict police officers,” Mr. Allen said. “Juries are inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

        “I really hope — and I hope it's not a naive hope — that come next year, things get back to normal. It's been an incredibly stressful year.”

        Later this week, Mr. Allen will announce whether he will try getting another jury to convict Officer Jorg of involuntary manslaughter.

        He could be retried, but experts say that is unlikely because:

        • Only two members of the first jury voted to convict.

        • Officer Jorg was found not guilty of the underlying charge.

        That verdict came Tuesday, followed on Friday by the acquittal of Officer Patrick Caton on an assault charge.

        Officer Stephen Roach was acquitted by a judge Sept. 27 of negligent homicide in the shooting death April 7 of Timothy Thomas. The prosecutor in the case decided not to appeal, and Officer Roach has asked that his record be expunged. That shooting was followed by four days of protests and riots, the worst unrest the city has experienced since the 1960s.

        Mr. Allen has not decided whether to re-prosecute.

        “If it was me who accidentally killed somebody in an automobile accident, I'm doing hard time,” said Antonio Robinson, 20, of Cincinnati. “But if it's a cop — accident or on purpose — make him do the time. It's only fair.” Successfully prosecuting a cop, Mr. Fyfe said, requires lawyers to prove a negative — that the officer did not reasonably fear for his safety or that he or she did not believe death or serious physical injury was imminent.

        “Accused cops, who are professional witnesses after all, usually can testify that they have always wanted to protect the public,” he said, “that they are good family people who have never done anything criminal themselves, that they have put their lives on the line for the citizens over and over again.

        “These are very tough arguments for a prosecutor to overcome.”

       Enquirer reporters Dan Horn and Susan Vela, and The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

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