SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Grief-stricken friends and family of a 22-year-old Santa Clara man fatally shot by police in January held a rally today demanding that a criminal grand jury probe of the incident scheduled for next week be open to the public.

Approximately 40 people lined West Hedding Street just outside the Santa Clara County district attorney's office, chanting "Stop police brutality" and "Police are not above the law."

Many held signs and wore shirts emblazoned with a picture of a smiling Eric Kleemeyer.

Kleemeyer was shot seven times in the early morning hours of Jan. 4 by Santa Clara police in the neighborhood where he grew up, just yards from his mother's house at the intersection of Serra and Clara Vista avenues.

Police have maintained that Kleemeyer rammed an officer's vehicle following a two-mile pursuit through city streets that began when police noticed him driving erratically.

The man's family believes police profiled Kleemeyer as a troublemaker and used excessive force against him.

Their attorney, Anthony Pagkas, said today the family has no immediate plans to file a civil lawsuit in the case but would like authorities to pursue criminal charges.

County policy calls for a grand jury proceeding, which could potentially lead to criminal charges, in the event of any fatal officer-involved shooting. But Kleemeyer's family said that is not enough. They want the hearings opened to the public.

"They took him away from me in a split second right in front of my house," Kleemeyer's mother, Sue Reardon, said today. "You live your whole life for your children. Now they are taking my chance to hear what happened away from me."

Friends of Kleemeyer described him as a young man who was getting his life back on track, having just been promoted to manager at Costco.

He had three prior arrests for driving under the influence, and Pagkas confirmed today for the first time that Kleemeyer's blood alcohol level was above the legal limit at the time of the shooting. He was also driving on a suspended license and under court probation.

Kleemeyer's poor decisions, Pagkas said, did not warrant death.

"The circumstances are troubling," Pagkas said. "We as a community rely on the police to be professionals."

The conflicting accounts of the events leading up to the Kleemeyer shooting point to the exact reason his family wants the grand jury proceedings open: to hear what police are saying.

Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu said today only in "unusual" circumstances are grand jury proceedings opened to the public.

At the hearings, prosecutors present evidence and witness testimony that could lead to an indictment. A judge does not oversee the proceedings and an indictment does not necessarily mean a crime was committed, but rather that the grand jury found sufficient evidence to merit a criminal trial.

Sinunu pointed out that many counties don't even have grand jury investigations and that Kleemeyer's family has been told they would receive a report on the proceedings.

Three grand jury hearings have been open to the public in Santa Clara County history, when the district attorney, grand jury members and presiding county judge have agreed on the need.

"In other cases there needed to be some public understanding," Sinunu said. "We didn't see that in this case."

Sinunu said all three officers involved in the Kleemeyer shooting apparently perceived the same threat, so the case was not as controversial as others.

The most recent open grand jury hearing occurred in July.

California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement Agent Michael Walker was indicted on a voluntary manslaughter charge for the shooting of 43-year-old Rudy Cardenas in February 2004.

Cardenas was mistaken for a wanted parolee and shot and killed following a frantic car and foot pursuit through downtown San Jose. Walker testified that Cardenas had turned and pointed a gun at him. No firearm was ever found.

The grand jury ruled that Walker didn't have an honest and reasonable belief that he was in danger and required the use of lethal force. Walker is scheduled for trial in May.

Members of Cardenas' family turned out for today's rally and echoed Kleemeyer's family's calls for police accountability and transparency in government.

In the second open grand jury hearing in county history, the panel decided not to indict San Jose police Officer Chad Marshall for the July 2003 shooting death of Bich Cau Tran.

Police called to Tran's home encountered her husband, who reportedly said his wife was "acting crazy." Tran was shot by the officer in her kitchen after brandishing what he thought was a cleaver but turned out to be a vegetable peeler.

The shooting outraged the Vietnamese community.

In the Kleemeyer case, Deputy District Attorney Dan Nishigaya will present the evidence and examine the nearly 40 witnesses expected to testify.

Nishigaya, who also presented the Tran case to the grand jury, said the Kleemeyer proceedings begin Tuesday and are expected to last about four days.