It’s Incredibly Rare For A Grand Jury To Do What Ferguson’s Just Did

[Droning Predator]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by hlthe2b (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: FiveThirtyEight.com

9:30 PM Nov 24 By Ben Casselman

?w=773

A St. Louis County grand jury on Monday decided not to indict Ferguson, Missouri, police Officer Darren Wilson in the August killing of teenager Michael Brown. The decision wasn’t a surprise — leaks from the grand jury had led most observers to conclude an indictment was unlikely — but it was unusual. Grand juries nearly always decide to indict.

Or at least, they nearly always do so in cases that don’t involve police officers.

Former New York state Chief Judge Sol Wachtler famously remarked that a prosecutor could persuade a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich.” The data suggests he was barely exaggerating: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. attorneys prosecuted 162,000 federal cases in 2010, the most recent year for which we have data. Grand juries declined to return an indictment in 11 of them.

Wilson’s case was heard in state court, not federal, so the numbers aren’t directly comparable. Unlike in federal court, most states, including Missouri, allow prosecutors to bring charges via a preliminary hearing in front of a judge instead of through a grand jury indictment. That means many routine cases never go before a grand jury. Still, legal experts agree that, at any level, it is extremely rare for prosecutors to fail to win an indictment.

“If the prosecutor wants an indictment and doesn’t get one, something has gone horribly wrong,” said Andrew D. Leipold, a University of Illinois law professor who has written critically about grand juries. “It just doesn’t happen.”



Read more: http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ferguson-michael-brown-indictment-darren-wilson/

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Well, I guess McCulloch didn't really WANT an indictment, huh?

Yeah, I know: IBL

[branford]

1. As the post indicates, the general rule doesn't always apply to indicting police officers.

It is my understanding that jurors, grand and trial, are often very sympathetic to police.

Note that federal charges by the DOJ will require an indictment by a federal grand jury. I don't believe one has even been impaneled for Wilson, and if the leaks from earlier are true, Holder does not believe the evidence can support a federal indictment, no less conviction.

I'm very interested to hear any statements from the DOJ over the coming days other than vague pleas for calm.

[ColesCountyDem]

3. Just so.

Additionally, the state's law regarding police officers and the use of deadly force is critical, as are the laws regarding self-defense and the use of deadly force, generally. I mistakenly thought that I had bookmarked an excellent post from August that explained what Missouri law regarding the use of deadly force and how it applied to the known facts of the instant case. As I recall from that post, the legal standard that would be required to indict a law-enforcement officer for any degree of culpable homicide was almost ridiculously high. and correctly predicted the outcome of the Saint Louis County grand jury proceedings.

[Azathoth]

2. There's an explanation for those numbers

Prosecutors usually don't seek indictments unless they think they have a shot at winning at trial, which means they think they can prove the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. When your evidence is strong enough to do that, probable cause isn't an issue.

[meti57b]

4. That is a truly great photograph!

[heaven05]

5. what that flag they are holding

allegedly represents and the principles and 'democracy' for which it stands, has never really applied to the millions of people of color that reside in this country. NEVER REALLY HAS. PERIOD. McColic NEVER wanted an indictment. Yeah people do think out here and are able to connect the dots perfectly. This 'puzzle' was easy to read many weeks ago.

[KingCharlemagne]

6. To think that black soldiers fought, bled and died for that flag. Pfft, i spit on it and

revile it henceforth.

[hlthe2b]

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