Weasel words? I thought a GJ either indicted or not, yes or no. No such thing as hung juries with a GJ?
So, Wilson is not indicted and it's over? Any legal experts around today?
If they have been excused, then thats it.
I originally read it as they failed to come to a decision and would deliberate some more.
Methinks the powers that be are being obtuse.
I have a graduate degree and I am confused. Not sure if the folks on the ground there are going to be better informed.
Pretty good answer for a Saturday night.
Has this Grand Jury been dismissed? Will they meet next week?
I think a GJ just requires a majority for an indictment.
Best may be for the jury to officially remain in session indefinitely while the jurors just go home and no announcement is ever made. Gradually the “authorities” just stop talking about it. The officer can be quietly separated from the force and be found a job in another location far away.
It makes no sense otherwise. The GJ isn't deciding if the guy is guilty or not. It's whether there's enough evidence to make a credible case. I sat on a grand jury: The rules are that if there aren't enough votes for a bill, it's "no bill." Get it? Kind of simple, really. There's no requirement that a majority vote against a bill—the onus is on the DA to convince a majority that he has a ham sandwich.
So what did the jury do—not vote? If I were his lawyer, I'd argue right now that that's "no bill." They wouldn't vote for it, so it got zero votes and lost.
However, at least 27 states use some kind of grand jury as a matter of state law. Missouri is among them.
The number of grand jurors in state (or local, within that state) grand jury who must vote for an indictment is a matter of that state's law. An indictment generally involves a supermajority vote of the jurors under those laws.
In Missouri, there are twelve jurors on a grand jury. Nine of the grand jurors must vote for an indictment; otherwise, it's a 'no-bill.'
From The Court Process, an official state publication by the Missouri Attorney General, page 4:
"GRAND JURYA grand jury replaces the preliminary hearing in certain cases as a method by which criminal charges can be filed. A grand jury is a panel of private citizens, chosen in a manner similar to the way in which trial juries are chosen, whose job is to look into allegations of criminal activity. The prosecutor presents evidence to the 12 grand jurors, nine of whom must agree on whether a crime was committed and whether there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed it. As with a preliminary hearing, the case is either bound over to the circuit court or the defendant is freed. Grand jury proceedings are closed to the public. Defendants do not attend unless they are testifying as witnesses."
See also: Missouri Rev. Stat. 540.250 True bill--concurrence by nine grand jurors.
As an aside, there's no such thing as double jeopardy with respect to a grand jury, because jeopardy never attaches - in simplistic terms, no proceeding has commenced that could result in a defending being found guilty.
As a result, in the case of a no-bill and as long as the statute(s) of limitations for the possible crime(s) has/have not yet run, a prosecutor may present evidence against the same person again regarding the same (or different, or both) charges before another grand jury or juries. There may some limitations on that, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were, but I don't know of any.
If you want to know more about Missouri Grand Juries, it's addressed in Missouri Rev. Stat. Ch. 540 - Grand Juries and Their Proceedings.