And the verdict gave rise to violence. Officer Darren who fatally shot an unarmed teenager was not indicted by the grand jury.
What is a grand jury in the American legal system.
photo culled from udayton.edu
A grand jury is a group of people, everyday people , chosen by a judge and guided by the DA (district attorney) to interview and determine if a crime had been committed that would warrant the suspect going to trial (probable cause). In Missouri, 9 of the 12 grand jurors must vote to indict the suspect before an indictment could stand.
The identities of the jurors are kept secret for their protection I would think and a verdict of no indictment means there won’t be a criminal trial. However a civil lawsuit can still be filed by Michael’s parents.
The DA is walking a tight rope, contrary to what most people think, the american justice system is highly political. DA need the police to help investigate crimes and successfully win his cases, what would happen if the police think the DA sold one of their owns out? Yet the DA swore to serve the public, how would he help them have confidence in the justice system?
On the other hand the governors and mayors want certain types of outcomes for political reasons and to pass certain messages; these are the tight ropes the DA walks on almost every case.
So why the violence on the verdict of the grand jury that a crime had not been committed?
It’s because of the legendary high handedness of the police especially against black communities and non Caucasians communities. Statistics after statistics show the ingrained racial profiling in the discharge of police duty, a Blackman would likely get shot trying to break into his own car and a white guy most likely helped by the police trying to break into someone else’s car!
I don’t believe violence is the appropriate reaction from the Ferguson community and other sympathetic people across the nation.
These communities should get their acts together, educate their kids better to respect those older than them, be more responsible and comply with laid down laws, more of them should pressure their council members into getting laws that unfairly target a particular race changed. Home training is lax, the fear of your kids being taken away into the foster care system has stopped so many parents disciplining their kids, I believe in spanking to correct a child but that is after several warnings.
Kids are said not to be able to reason well below 18 which is why they are kids, scientifically the part of their brain required for that isn’t well developed, so why then would some people who has no kids ask you to reason with your kids?! Yes you teach them by reasoning and negotiating, but a kid throwing unnecessary tantrum sometimes need a spank, a healthy corrective spank not a brutal beating like you are sparing with a punching bag.
That tight line the DA walks, every parent need to walk same at home with their kids!
The police on the other hand need to know irrespective of race, everyone is someone’s child. Shielding officers who have committed murder or manslaughter using excessive force will simply erode the people confidence in the police and brings the day of anarchy nearer. Thinking of it, the people far outnumber the police; let’s not put that to a test via violence.
See an excerpt of Darren’s account below culled from CNN and decide what verdict you would return if you were a juror.
Note that eye witnesses said Michael had his arms up in surrender before he was shot.
Grand jury transcripts
He says he shot at Michael Brown for a second time when Brown turned on him.
“As he is coming towards me, I tell, keep telling him to get on the ground, he doesn’t. I shoot a series of shots. I don’t know how many I shot, I just know I shot it,” he says, according to documents released Monday night.
“I know I missed a couple, I don’t know how many, but I know I hit him at least once because I saw his body kind of jerk,” he says. Wilson testifies that Brown did not slow down.
“At this point, I start backpedaling and again, I tell him get on the ground, get on the ground, he doesn’t. I shoot another round of shots,” he says, according to the released testimony.
“Again, I don’t recall how many it was or if I hit him every time. I know at least once because he flinched again. At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him.
“And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn’t even there, I wasn’t even anything in his way.” He told the jurors he thought Brown was going to tackle him.
He said Brown’s left hand was in a fist and his right hand was under his shirt in his waistband.
Brown was “just coming straight at me like he was going to run right through me,” Wilson says. “And when he gets about that 8 to 10 feet away, I look down, I remember looking at my sites and firing, all I see is his head and that’s what I shot.
“I don’t know how many, I know at least once because I saw the last one go into him. And then when it went into him, the demeanor on his face went blank, the aggression was gone. It was gone, I mean, I knew he stopped, the threat was stopped.”
“When he fell, he fell on his face.”
