Ferguson Prosecutor Says No Charge Decision Until October

The Missouri grand jury that began considering evidence today in the police killing of an unarmed man won’t decide whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson until October “at the earliest,” a spokesman for the local prosecutor said.

Ferguson Prosecutor Says No Charge Decision Until October

Why so long for a jury to render a verdict to indict or not? This is crazy to let it languish for so long. There have been a few autopsies already and they probably have all of the witness testimony they're bound to get. Why wait until October? Well unless this is part of the agenda. Guess October is going to be a really interesting month after all.

* aren't there some October doom porn threads and monetary systems crashing, etc?

I agree.The sooner a grand jury decides to render a ruling the better.Otherwise there could be continued problems in Ferguson.And if the GJ decides to not file charges against the officer watch out for local explosion.

IMHO, they can't bring charges against the officer because after review it shows the officer was justified. They're hoping by dragging their feet it will give the impression that they're combing through every detail with a fine-toothed comb and that an 'October Surprise' event will put this incident on the back burner. Again, just my take.

a reply to: Bilk22

The Clayton, Missouri grand jury was empaneled in May, said Edward Magee, spokesman for prosecutor Bob McCulloch. He said that the process of presenting evidence will last until October.

Clearly, there is a lot of evidence to process. It seems reasonable that it could take 4-5 weeks to get the GJ verdict.

No one wants to wait. I'm pretty sure we'll be talking about 2-3 more people executed by police in that 4-5 weeks. LA has a couple of terrible cases. Ohio had a black man gunned down in a WalMart for carrying a BB gun that was on the store shelf. The Fascists are emboldened by the support they are receiving. They are winning. They have been winning for a long time. So that's Murica.

How long would it take for a charge to be laid in a typical case?

a reply to: InverseLookingGlass

The game of race is winning eh?

Divided we fall..

As it was explained by one talking head who is a prosecutor last night, you sometimes sit a Grand Jury as a prosecutor simply so that you have the clout to demand the evidence as soon as it is available; the Jury gives you a number to sign the documentation with, etc. There is still evidence coming in. You cannot render any kind of decision before the Jury has considered all of the evidence. The Jury will have to look at the evidence as slowly as it gets produced. It is not, therefore, unreasonable to think it might take that long to gather everything relevant for their consideration.

Waiting for elections, maybe?

originally posted by: eeyipes
Waiting for elections, maybe?

Bingo! We have a winner! Just in time for the November elections!

Well this will keep the rumors and anonymous "leaks" coming for a long time.



All part of the game plan.

November elections - yes, part of the game.

This is a smart move. If they released their decision now it could escalate the riots. By waiting it gives everyone a chance to calm down a bit.

a reply to: UnBreakable

They're hoping by dragging their feet it will give the impression that they're combing through every detail with a fine-toothed comb and that an 'October Surprise' event will put this incident on the back burner.

Unless this is the october surprise...

Eithrr way, when whatever decision is made comes out, there will be much gnashing of teeth from whichever side thinks is slighted.

I just hope that the facts of the case determine the proper course of action and that it is not driven by fear, threats, innuendo.

a reply to: UnBreakable

Bingo!

This is how I see it too.

By October this story will have cooled off. Once football season gets going the masses in the US will more or less forget about Ferguson.

The wheels of justice turn slow. That's just how it is. They're gonna cross all their T's and dot all their I's on this case. The store shelves should be good and stocked when the verdict is reached.

Best protest sign so far:

Pants up!!! Don't loot!!


Made me laugh

a reply to: Bilk22

Its not a jury rendering a verdict.

The grand jury hears evidence of the crime and determines if its enough to return an indictment (enough evidence to sustain the charge).

Secondly Grand Juries, at least in ST. Louis county, are assembled for a specific period of time. I wanna say the grand jury being used now is close to it being the end of their term.

Their decision is not guilt or innocence, its A- Yes there is enough evidence to indict or B - No, the evidence in question does not support the charges.

Also, contrary to what we see on tv, forensic evidence can take some time to process. People also need to keep in mind that by allowing all facts / evidence to come to light can prevent the charges from being dropped. Once you charge someone, and witnesses are sworn in, jeopardy is attached. That means if the charge is dismissed based on lack of evidence, filing new charges will be extremely difficult if not impossible.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
a reply to: Bilk22

Its not a jury rendering a verdict.

The grand jury hears evidence of the crime and determines if its enough to return an indictment (enough evidence to sustain the charge).

Secondly Grand Juries, at least in ST. Louis county, are assembled for a specific period of time. I wanna say the grand jury being used now is close to it being the end of their term.

Their decision is not guilt or innocence, its A- Yes there is enough evidence to indict or B - No, the evidence in question does not support the charges.

Also, contrary to what we see on tv, forensic evidence can take some time to process. People also need to keep in mind that by allowing all facts / evidence to come to light can prevent the charges from being dropped. Once you charge someone, and witnesses are sworn in, jeopardy is attached. That means if the charge is dismissed based on lack of evidence, filing new charges will be extremely difficult if not impossible.

I understand how the GJ process works. Not sure what evidence they don't already have. Seems pretty cut and dried to me. They just need to determine if there was just cause for the shooting or not.

a reply to: Bilk22

I do know that some toxicology reports can take several weeks. I'm sure they will need those.