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Ferguson Grand Jury Got It Wrong with Wilson
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
November 25, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Opting to not indict 28-year-old Fergurson Police
Officer Darren Wilson for the Aug. 9 killing of 18-year-old unarmed teenager
Michael Brown, a Ferguson grand jury completely missed the point of a grand
jury. Ferguson District Atty.
Robert McCulloch cleverly heaped so much testimony, facts and expert witnessing
at jurors they were confused as to their appropriate role of simply saying
“yay-or-nay” to binding the incident over for trial. McCulloch inappropriately imposed a
trial on grand jurors, not limiting the task to determining whether Wilson could
be charged with manslaughter for killing Brown Aug. 9. Forcing the grand jury to weigh
burdensome evidence for the usual low threshold of a grand jury simply allowing
a trial to go forward was inappropriate, grounds to have the grand jury findings
tossed out. Wilson should have been
tried for at least manslaughter.
After hyping the decision for days, McCulloch finally read the grand
jury’s findings at 9.15 p.m. Central Time:
“No probable cause exists,” said McCulloch, making a mockery of the grand
jury system. Jurors were treated to
Wilson saying he felt “threatened” and over matched by the larger, more imposing
Brown. Jurors should have asked
Brown why, if he felt so threatened, he continued to pursue Brown without
adequate backup? Suspected by
Ferguson police of stealing a pack of Swishers’ cigarillos, Brown should not be
shot dead. Toxicology reports
indicating Brown had marijuana in his bloodstream were irrelevant. No one stealing a pack of cigars
should be shot dead by the police.
Wilson’s pitiful testimony about how threatened he “felt” showed that the
killing was truly unnecessary. If
Wilson felt so threatened, he shouldn’t have engaged Brown alone.
McCulloch insisted the exhaustive grand jury analysis “tells the accurate
and tragic story of what happened,” completely missing the point that the grand
jury should have not functioned as the ultimate trier-of-fact—that should be
left to a criminal jury. “All 12
jurors were present for every session and all 12 jurors examined every piece of
evidence,” said McCulloch, proving, again, that he abused the grand jury’s role
of simply determining whether or not there was sufficient probable cause to
charge Wilson. McCullough forced a
“beyond-a-reasonable-doubt” standard that was inappropriate for a grand jury to
determining whether charges should be filed.
Instead of focusing jurors on weighing complicated evidence, McCullouch
should have reminded jurors that Michael Brown was killed by Wilson for stealing
a pack of Swishers’ cigarillos, whether or not an altercation took place.
Wilson’s testimony that he was threatened-for-his-life by Brown’s size
should have been questioned from the start.
Feeling “threatened” when confronted with an unarmed teenager should
raise serious questions about Wilson’s judgment but, more importantly, his
decision to use lethal force. If
Brown’s size worried Wilson why did he confront him directly, rather than
calling for backup? Grand jurors
erroneously concluded that because Wilson perceived Brown as a threat he had a
right to use lethal force. Policing
standards regarding using lethal force involve more than an officer’s
perception. Wilson’s admission that
he felt threatened had more to do with his psychological state than a
justifiable threat to his life.
“Law enforcement personnel must frequently make split-second and difficult
decisions. Officer Wilson followed
his training and followed the law,” insisted McCulloch.
Law enforcement follows rigorous protocols when it comes to using lethal
force. Engaging an unarmed teenager
in an altercation resulting in lethal force follows no one’s law enforcement
protocol. At the moment Wilson
realized Brown was too big to handle, he should have called for back up before
engaging him in the lethal incident.
“”We recognize that many people will want to second-guess the grand
jury’s decision. We would encourage
anyone who wants to express an opinion do so in a respectful and peaceful
manner,” said McCullouch, antagonizing Ferguson crowds that promptly erupted in
violence. When the mostly white
grand jury rendered its verdict acquitting Wilson, violence was guaranteed. McCulloch’s arrogant denunciation of
the press threw gasoline on the fire.
Press coverage only tried to get out the facts before the grand jury
finished its work.
Ripping the press while reading the grand jury’s verdict, McCulloch did
little to defuse a volatile situation that turned violent. Wilson’s testimony to the grand jury
that he felt “threatened” was not an appropriate police standard to use lethal
force. Wilson knew that Brown engaged in only petty theft, certainly not warranting shooting an
unarmed teen. If he felt threatened
by Brown's size, he should have called for backup before the situation spiraled
out-of-control. Whatever Wilson’s
injuries as jurors compared them against ballistic and autopsy evidence, he
should have never gotten into a lethal alteration with Brown. Grand jurors could have easily
charged Wilson with manslaughter for showing such abysmal judgment. “We are profoundly disappointed that
the killer of our child will not face the consequences of his actions,” read the
Brown-family statement following the verdict.
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