No Federal Jury On Kent Killings, 'Post' Discloses

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has recommended against holding a federal grand jury investigation of the four shooting deaths at Kent State University last May, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

Following a state grand jury report last spring which exonerated the National Guardsmen in the shooting, many legal experts and public officials asked that a federal grand jury further investigate the incidents.

The offices of both Governor John J. Gilligan of Ohio and Attorney General William J. Brown refused to comment on the Post report, claiming that to do so might prejudice cases against 25 persons indicted by the state grand jury.

The Post said the Justice Department decision would need only Attorney General John N. Mitchell's signature to become final. A Justice Department spokesman yesterday denied that Mitchell had made a decision but would not elaborate.