Answering those questions would require a trial. Do you understand there will be no trials? Brown can’t be tried because he is dead; Wilson won’t be tried because the prosecutor made no attempt to prosecute.
It’s not the prosecutor’s job to waste the taxpayers’ money on fruitless courtroom theater. The grand jury found there isn’t enough probable cause to indict, let alone convict.
During a normal grand jury proceeding the prosecutor does not have to present all of the evidence. He certainly does not have to present any exculpatory evidence. Just enough to show probable cause. In other cases the grand jury is empowered with more responsibility. In this case all of the evidence was presented. The jury found there was not enough probable cause to go forward even without a defense being presented. Even though it is not required under state law all of the evidence is being released to the press and public. You can read through the testimony of 70 witnesses and all of the reports if you have the time. Unlike a regular jury the grand jury was able to ask questions directly to the witnesses. In certain areas they have more power than a petit jury.
The reason why it is done this way here and in many cases of police shootings throughout the country is simple. If the prosecutor looks at the case and decides that the shooting was justified and decides not to prosecute the uproar would be even worse. He would have no deliberations to point to. He will have not testimony on the record. He will not have a jury of 12 looking at the case independently. It is an effort to keep the proceedings as free of bias as possible. And in this case the federal government was observing every step of the way. In many cases of police shootings community activists push for it to be put in front of a grand jury in order for the proceedings to be placed in the hands of a neutral party.
Now I’m pretty sure that everything I said was correct. If not please clarify the facts. Whether it is a good thing to use a grand jury in this way is certainly open for debate. Good thing for you we have Great Debates, down the hall and to the left. (You can call that a Mod Hint)
Loach, perhaps you and other mods can get on the same page:
We are on the same page. There is a leeway in MPSIMS. There can be discussion of events. Some opinion of what is going on. It’s great when someone can point out some facts.
What it shouldn’t do is become a debate or a Pitting of anyone or anything. First because this is not the place for it. Second because there are already Pit and GD threads on the matter. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing that can be discussed on a MPSIMy level.
Anything further take it to ATMB.
Now we’re seeing the evidence come to light. It seems that the witnesses gave wildly differing accounts of what happened. Some of the accounts supported Officer Wilson’s version of events. Other people changed their story. No matter how much credibility you give to the police officer, it certainly looks like a situation where the evidence simply does not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
This was a grand jury, which means the evidence did not even establish probable cause.
Regards,
Shodan
Breaking the windows of a McDonald’s, looting a liquor store, and burning buildings is a clear victory to the rioters if you consider mindless violence to be the victory.
The protestors turned into rioters, arsonists, and looters. Protestors began throwing rocks and bottles at the police. Rioters then returned to the safety of the mob of protestors and became protestors again. I’m not throwing rocks now and you can’t prove that I threw rocks before, regardless of what your lying videos show.
61 arrests, almost all of them live in the St. Louis area
10 businesses destroyed by fire. I’ve also heard about a dozen more were looted. Here’s a map of the incidents - not all of which were in Ferguson.
1 person found dead in his car near the riot. Police call the death “suspicious” but won’t say if it’s directly related to the riot.
2 people reported shot. Authorities say no police fired their weapons.
[QUOTE=BobLibDem]
AKA those people who are upset that unarmed children are murdered by police.
[/QUOTE]
I didn’t know that there was a child involved. Do you consider all adult black males as children, or only the ones who get shot?
Regards,
Shodan
He might be referring to an incident the other day where police in Cleveland shot & killed a 12-year-old boy who was waving around what turned out to be a toy gun. They showed a picture of the toy on the news. It looked exactly like a real handgun.
I’d seen that but hadn’t dug deeper. There’s plenty of peaceful groups that travel to the high publicity protest of the day. There’s also those that will say they aren’t pacifist and that go out of the way to incite, train, and encourage “direct action.” I assumed there were some of the later along with some non-regulars looking for riot. Digging in just a touch shows a usual suspect in the person of Lisa Fithian on ground in advance but still making peaceful sounding noises.
I was still a little surprised they were so open of discarding the pretense so early.
Thanks guys I appreciate its a complex problem with deep roots. I thought the racism thing had largely faded away for most Americans. Certainly there are loud racist people who garner attention but that happens everywhere and they don’t represent the vast majority of a society.
Americans elected a black President.
You’re welcome.
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Sorry. I meant to say “You are welcome.”
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