Last night the St. Louis County prosecutor, Robert P. McCulloch, announced the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown Jr., and unarmed black teenager. The shooting occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri.
The grand jury, consisting of 9 members (6 whites, 3 blacks), met for 25 days. It reportedly heard over 70 hours of testimony and 60 witnesses.
How a grand jury works?
The U.S. remains the only common law country in the world that still uses grand juries to screen criminal indictments. In terms of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger . . . .”
A grand jury may issue an indictment (or ‘true bill’) for a crime if it finds, on the basis of the evidence before it, that there is probable cause to believe that the suspect committed a crime.
The ‘probable cause’ standard, which is used to indict an accused, is different from the standard used to determine the accused’s guilt, beyond reasonable doubt. In Brinegar v. United States, the Supreme Court defined probable cause as:
“Where the facts and circumstances within the officers’ knowledge, and of which they have reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient in themselves to warrant a belief by a man of reasonable caution that a crime is being committed.”
Therefore, the grand jury in the Brown matter must have decided that none of the information before it warranted the belief that a crime had been committed. This is a startling conclusion!
Dorian Johnson’s testimony
Brown was gunned will walking with a friend, Dorian Johnson. Johnson gave testimony before the grand jury. Dorian Johnson’s full testimony here (begins on page 17).
Officer Wilson’s testimony
Officer Wilson alleges that he encountered Brown and Johnson walking on the street and he asked them to move to the pavement (sidewalk). He ‘noticed’ Brown carrying a handful of cigarillos and it ‘clicked’ to him that Brown and Johnson were suspects in an earlier crime. He then blocked the two with his car. He alleges that Brown charged at him and a scuffle broke out in the car.
Read Officer Wilson’s full testimony here (begins on page 196).
The county prosecutor released photographs supposedly showing Wilson’s injuries. The strange thing about the photographs is that they show no injuries. The blood on Wilson’s uniform and inside his car was Brown’s.
Updates soon.
[email protected]/twitter: @brad_cibane
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