Posted on 08/19/2014 6:37:12 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
FERGUSON, Missouri – The office of the county prosecutor has said a grand jury could start hearing evidence Wednesday in the fatal shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by a white police officer on August 9.
“We’re going to attempt to present evidence to the grand jury on Wednesday,” Ed Magee, a spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch, told msnbc, stressing the word “attempt.”
The Associated Press first reported news of the grand jury.
~snip~
McCulloch had told the St. Louis Post Dispatch Saturday that he hoped to install a grand jury “within days.”
“We’re going to start presenting everything to the grand jury as quickly as we can,’’ he said. “We’re not going to wait until we have everything and then do it.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
Verdict———————> Trial
Indeed. Remember “all we want is an arres’” from the Martin / Zimmerman case. We all knew that was just their opening bid.
I understand that if a man robs a store and kills someone, and is arrested on the way out...that there is not much left to do other than file charges and begin a trial.
But there hasn’t even been an arrest in this case, right?
Its going to be a case of determining whether or not the cop followed police procedure and was justified in his actions. To a large degree I believe it will hinge on the direction of the bullet holes, eye witness testimony, and the presence/absence of Brown’s DNA on the cop’s gun.
So, as an example, if 2 months from now the DNA tests come back and show Brown’s DNA on the gun....there should be no charges filed. Its an open and shut case, and the cop is justified. So why on earth file charges now?
What is the hurry?
I think the answer is the mob. And I suspect in a ‘normal’ case, they would wait for the evidence to be processed. Its a murder case, and no arrest has been made - nothing is going to expire.
And from what I know of Grand Juries, they may always be ‘sitting’, but they don’t go to an office every day to hear a case. Generally they meet once a month and have a marathon session. This consumes the prosecutor’s time too, and they can’t be continuously ‘in session’. So I suspect either a special grand jury would be called or the sitting one would have to be called into special session...special circumstances foe no other reason than to satisfy a mob.
The Prosecuting Attorney is a Democrat, Bob McCollugh.
His father was a St Louis cop who was killed in the line of duty. McCullogh has been a very strong supporter of police his entire career.
He could very well present a case to the Grand Jury that would decline to indict. Hard to say, him being a Democrat, afterall, but he has already clashed with Gov. Jay Nixon over this.
Hardly a slam dunk call on this one.
Not really that strange. McCollugh is white.
Case closed.
Captain Ron Johnson on the other hand.....
Can’t convict him?? This is St Louis County. About as corrupt as it gets. What if the Jury is all black?
Maybe this will be a rare time when a Demon Rat does the right thing?
“There are statutory time limits between arrest and indictment, and if the indictment doesn’t come, the suspect must be released.”
No one has been arrested ...
This reminds me somewhat of the old US Supreme Court case from Georgia known as the Leo Frank case. The mob lynched Frank after a trial tainted by mob violence.
Presentment to a grand jury can also be used to clear somebody. That's what the plan was with Zimmerman - the case was scheduled to go before a grand jury until the governor took it away and gave it to Angela Corey.
I know. I just put that in as an example of a situation where quick grand jury action is routine. I took the initial contention as one that grand juries always take considerable time to reach a conclusion, and pointed out that there is a wide range of time between incident and resolution. Sometimes years, as evidence accumulates or comes to light.
“We’re not going to wait until we have everything and then do it.”
God, no. Why let facts get in the way of your foregone conclusions?”
Yep, here comes the indictment of the “ham sandwich”.
“Presentment to a grand jury can also be used to clear somebody”
I thought about that possibility. But again, is that normally done...or would it be done as a response to the mob scene?
Just in my local news, there have been several homicides, where a homeowner kills an intruder...and our DA has just made a determination not to prosecute. He didn’t need a grand jury to tell him there wasn’t a case...he was able to use prosecutorial discretion.
So, if it is really a ploy clear the officer - why go through the motions? Wouldn’t it be possible for the DA to call a press conference and announce no charges will be pursued? I guess I know the answer to that question - no, he can’t. Because the FBI and the DOJ would investigate him until the end of time. So I guess he’ll punt to a grand jury to save his bacon....and we’ll see just how secret a grand jury is when Holder’s people are sniffing around. But again - submitting to a Grand Jury so early, even as a method of exonerating the cop, seems like a reaction to the mob. Wouldn’t it be great if all the race baiters went home and this case was handled like other cases.
St. Louis County is about 70% white and is a separate political entity than St. Louis City (which is an independent city). The two entities split in the 1870s.
It's done when the DA wants a signal as to how a petit (trial) jury might respond to the same evidence, but otherwise, in a case of a police shooting, the issue is usually cleared with a police investigation (DA involved, but no grand jury).
In the Zimmerman case, the function of presentment to a grand jury was intended to placate the mob, in that a panel of citizens, not government employees, would decide if charges were warranted. I think the same dynamic is in play here.
Good question about clear cut cases of self defense, whether or not the grand jury ever sees them. That is DA discretion.
-- Wouldn't it be possible for the DA to call a press conference and announce no charges will be pursued? --
Yes. And that happens too. But the DA won't want to be personally responsible in this case. You are right on the money, "punt to a grand jury." Totally agree, this is a reaction to the mob.
This is a fairly typical situation of the press whipping the public into a frenzy by repeating falsehoods, embellishing falsehoods, and otherwise endeavoring to capture market share. One of these times, Charlie Manson's wish will come true - widespread race-based open war.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.