Shadow Trial: Prosecutors in Ferguson violated our right to an open criminal justice system.

[JonLP24]

50. Pretty much all grand jury proceedings are closed to the public

I'm not aware of one that wasn't.

Releasing all transcripts, documents, and audio evidence is unusual and not aware of a similar case. It isn't a secret that grand juries are secret.

As far as misconduct, you do realize the rules are different as far as instructions? Prosecutors can also ask leading questions & present illegally obtained evidence that wouldn't be used in a regular trial

I'll have to watch the Lawrence video but from the gist I imagine it has something to do with this

“So, the statute I gave you,” said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kathi Alizadeh, “if you want to fold that in half just so that, you know, don't necessarily rely on that because there is a portion of that that doesn't comply with the law.”

It’s not every day that a prosecutor tells a grand jury to ignore the state law, but there was a good reason for Alizadeh and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sheila Whirley to deliver the message. The Missouri law would allow police to kill an unarmed suspect fleeing a felony, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has said that is unconstitutional.

Legal experts and some state legislators say changing the state law is one of the most obvious reforms that could be put in place to address issues raised by the death of Michael Brown at the hands of Officer Wilson.

Chad Flanders, a Saint Louis University law professor, said, “There’s an important point about Missouri law which we should all agree on: The Missouri statute on law enforcement officer’s use of force needs to be changed, and now.”

<snip>

The strange moment in the grand jury came last Friday around 3 p.m. as Whirley was explaining to the grand jury the law as it should apply in deciding whether to indict Wilson. According to the transcript of the hearings, this is what transpired:

“Real quick, can I interrupt about something?” interjected Alizadeh. “Previously, in the very beginning of this process, I printed out a statute for you that was, the statute in Missouri for the use of force to affect an arrest.

“So if you all want to get those out. What we have discovered, and we have been going along with this, doing our research, is that the statute in the State of Missouri does not comply with the case law.

“....And so the statute for the use of force to affect an arrest in the state of Missouri does not comply with Missouri Supreme Court, I'm sorry United States Supreme Court cases....

“So the statute I gave you, if you want to fold that in half just so that you know don't necessarily rely on that because there is a portion of that that doesn't comply with the law.

“…I don't want you to get confused and don’t rely on that copy or that print-out of the statute that I've given you a long time ago.”

A grand juror asks, “So we’re to disregard this?”

Alizadehanswers: “It is not entirely incorrect or inaccurate, but there is something in it that’s not correct, ignore it totally.”

When a grand juror asks more questions,

Whirley chimes in, “We don’t want to get into a law class.”
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/grand-jury-wrangled-confusing-instructions