{"id":5938,"date":"2014-11-28T08:56:49","date_gmt":"2014-11-28T16:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/?p=5938"},"modified":"2014-11-28T18:32:48","modified_gmt":"2014-11-29T02:32:48","slug":"thoughts-on-the-ferguson-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/5938\/thoughts-on-the-ferguson-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on the Ferguson Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ferguson_grand_jury\"<\/p>\n

November 28, 2014<\/p>\n

By Ralph E. Stone<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone now knows that on August 9 Darren Wilson, a white police officer, shot and killed Michael Brown, an African-American teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. On November 24, a St. Louis grand jury announced that it was not indicting Mr. Wilson.<\/p>\n

The grand jury is made up of twelve jurors. \u00a0It takes nine to issue an indictment. \u00a0This grand jury was made up of 6 white men, 3 white women, 2 African-American women and 1 African-American man. \u00a0The ethnic makeup of the grand jury is similar to the racial breakdown of St. Louis County, which is about 24 percent African-American and 68 percent white.<\/p>\n

It would be interesting to know how each of the jurors voted, especially the African-American jurors.\u00a0 However, the names of the jurors are secret, as is how they voted. Jurors are prohibited from commenting on a grand jury proceeding.<\/p>\n

There is a saying that if a prosecutor wants it, the grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. \u00a0However, in cases involving police shootings, grand juries tend not to indict.<\/p>\n

Usually, the prosecutor has latitude to choose what evidence will be presented to a grand jury. But in this case, the grand jury was given more latitude in calling witnesses and issuing subpoenas. In most grand jury cases, the prosecutor provides a charge, or a list of charges, for the grand jury to consider. In this case, the prosecutor did not recommend any charges. The person who may be charged usually does not testify, but in this case, Officer Wilson testified for four hours, but without any cross-examination.<\/p>\n

Under Missouri law, grand jury proceedings are secret although evidence from it can be released at a later date. \u00a0In this case, all evidence and testimony were released after the grand jury decided not to indict. \u00a0I expect the Justice Department will review the evidence and testimony to see if it will file federal civil rights charges against Mr. Wilson. \u00a0I also expect the pundits, legal and otherwise, will comb the evidence and testimony and much “expert” commentary will result. \u00a0For example, San Francisco Public Defender\u00a0Jeff Adachi\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0issued a statement critical of the grand jury’s decision.<\/p>\n

After hearing the grand jury’s decision not to indict,\u00a0Lesley McSpadden,\u00a0Michael Brown’s mother, said, “We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.”<\/p>\n

Alas, a peaceful, non-violent reaction was not to be. The rioting and looting that followed in Ferguson and elsewhere, including the City of Oakland – causing hundreds of thousands dollars of damage and some minor injuries – is not the answer. Ironically, the majority of businesses damaged or destroyed are minority owned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a saying that if a prosecutor wants it, the grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. 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