Civil rights leaders have waited seven months for Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot to publicly address the fate of six DeSoto police officers accused of brutalizing a mother and her family in response to her 911 call in August.

The violence, captured on video, drew widespread condemnation and raised a raft of questions.

Would the officers be charged for drawing weapons on the family and slamming the mom to the street? For tasing her son after he had complied with orders to lie on the ground? For arresting that son and his brother, though they did nothing illegal?

The press conference never came. Creuzot made his decision quietly in recent days: The officers won’t face prosecution because the office could not determine “that a criminal offense occurred,’’ according to a one-paragraph letter his office sent to DeSoto's police chief.

Creuzot, who has not responded to questions from The Dallas Morning News, also did not meet with the mom, Sammie Anderson, and her family to discuss the dismissal, breaking with a common protocol in potential police brutality cases.

The secrecy has sowed confusion and outrage among civil rights and victim advocacy groups. They say the public deserves to know what steps his office took to investigate and what criminal statutes investigators reviewed.

"A mother who called for help was clearly terrorized by police,'' said Sara Mokuria, co-founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality. "For it not to be taken seriously by the district attorney sends the wrong message.’’

The Rev. Peter Johnson, founder of the Institute for Non-Violence, is requesting a meeting with Creuzot to discuss why the DA apparently did not take the case to a grand jury to weigh criminal charges such as official oppression or false arrest.

"You cannot pull a weapon on an innocent person, even if you're a police officer,'' Johnson said in a letter he sent to Creuzot provided to The News. "You cannot shoot them with a Taser either, or slam their mom, who is also innocent, onto the ground. The person in charge of enforcing our laws is obligated to take action or, at least, speak up.''

Efforts to reach the officers — Patrick Krekel, Bryan Scott-Lee, Courie Bryant, Kendall McGill, Ryan Money and Larry Walker — were unsuccessful. DeSoto Chief Joe Costa, who supplied the DA's letter to The News, declined to comment.

DeSoto police faced scathing criticism from civil rights groups and U.S. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson in the wake of a News investigation that published video footage of the violence.

Last August, Anderson asked a friend to call 911 for help as she tried to break up an argument between two of her sons. The caller suggested someone might be holding a weapon. By the time squad cars swept in the scene was calm.

Videos showed officers, weapons drawn, screaming and shoving family members to get on the ground to be handcuffed.

Anderson and three of her sons appeared confused. They protested but complied. One officer tackled Anderson when she briefly got off the ground. Officers then repeatedly used a Taser on one of her sons, Grant Bible, as he lay on the ground and screamed for 40 seconds.

Dash camera videos showed the Taser use from a distance. But three officers did not activate their body cameras and one was not wearing a camera, preventing a close-up view of the officers’ actions.

Officers also arrested Grant and his brother Sam Bible, though they did not appear to violate any crimes. The charges were later dropped following The News' stories.

Congresswoman Johnson and the Texas ACLU called the officers' violence "brutal.'' Johnson urged the town to create a citizen review board to investigate. DeSoto officials have not done so.

Chief Costa has maintained that the officers did nothing wrong. Although the failure to activate their body cameras broke the department’s policy, the officers were not disciplined.

Sammie Anderson said she’s not bitter at Creuzot’s decision, just shocked he didn’t meet with her family to explain his reasoning.

“I do feel slighted,’’ said Anderson. “The DA has the ability to set the tone for how police treat citizens, to say these things won’t be allowed.’’

Anderson learned of the DA's decision through her lawyer, Anthony Farmer, who got a phone call from Creuzot's public integrity chief, LaQuita Long. Long has not responded to messages from The News.

Farmer told The News that Long said her investigators made efforts to talk to witnesses. But despite the call, questions linger, such as whether the officers were interviewed.

Johnson said he and David Henderson, a civil rights attorney with the Ellwanger Law firm, want to take the police video and other evidence to a grand jury under a Texas law that allows “any credible person” to do so.

But first, Johnson needs Creuzot and Long to meet with them to understand what the DA’s office already has done, he said.

Former district Judge Elizabeth Frizell said she has serious questions about why Creuzot has closed out investigations of wrongdoing in recent months, including a case involving Cedar Hill officials who positioned themselves to profit from a special tax district they created.

Former Dallas district Judge Elizabeth Frizell, who lost a Democratic bid for DA to Creuzot last year, called the decision not to take the case to a grand jury a “total injustice.''

“I’ve tried to be silent about some of [Creuzot's] decisions lately, but the public deserves to know more about why these investigations are being closed out,’’ Frizell said.