NY Times: Prosecutor Bob McCulloch Bungled It
[su_right_ad]The New York Times editorial board goes after the prosecutor for mishandling the investigation of Darren Wilson.
First, he refused to step aside in favor of a special prosecutor who could have been appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri. He further undermined public confidence by taking a highly unorthodox approach to the grand jury proceeding. Instead of conducting an investigation and then presenting the case and a recommendation of charges to the grand jury, his office shifted its job to the grand jury. It made no recommendation on whether to indict the officer, Darren Wilson, but left it to the jurors to wade through masses of evidence to determine whether there was probable cause to file charges against Officer Wilson for Mr. Brown’s killing.
[su_thin_right_skyscraper_ad]Under ordinary circumstances, grand jury hearings can be concluded within days. The proceeding in this case lasted an astonishing three months. And since grand jury proceedings are held in secret, the drawn-out process fanned suspicions that Mr. McCulloch was deliberately carrying on a trial out of public view, for the express purpose of exonerating Officer Wilson.
If all this weren’t bad enough, Mr. McCulloch took a reckless approach to announcing the grand jury’s finding. After delaying the announcement all day, he finally made it late in the evening, when darkness had placed law enforcement agencies at a serious disadvantage as they tried to control the angry crowds that had been drawn into the streets by news that the verdict was coming. Mr. McCulloch’s announcement sounded more like a defense of Officer Wilson than a neutral summary of the facts that had led the grand jury to its conclusion.
…many police officers see black men as expendable figures on the urban landscape, not quite human beings.
We get a flavor of this in Officer Wilson’s grand jury testimony, when he describes Michael Brown, as he was being shot, as a soulless behemoth who was “almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him.”
tiredoftea November 25th, 2014 at 7:06 pm
“We get a flavor of this in Officer Wilson’s grand jury testimony, when he describes Michael Brown, as he was being shot, as a soulless behemoth who was “almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him.”” Officer Wilson was well rehearsed for his performance. The act worked, the grand jury did the work expected of it. Now, they will reap their reward for their complicity in this charade of justice.
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 7:33 pm
He (Wilson) also said..
“I felt like a 5 year old fighting Hulk Hogan”..
Both Brown and Wilson are/were 6′ 4″ tall…
Only a 40lb difference separated their size.
Suzanne McFly November 25th, 2014 at 7:40 pm
Exactly, he made it seem as if it was David and Goliath, they were the same friggin’ height. Wilson just had to play up the victim stance, sick little human being.
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 8:33 pm
And cop Wilson had a number of weapons he could have used to subdue Brown…
And the option of just leaving the scene, and waiting for backup to arrive…
Or allowing Brown, “the alleged cigarillo thief” to flee, and be captured later.
Suzanne McFly November 25th, 2014 at 8:46 pm
Right, why didn’t he use the mace or night stick? And if was truly scared, why didn’t he leave the scene and call for back up? I seen multiple pics of Wilson after this “altercation” and he hardly looks beaten to me. His cheeks were a little pink and the darkest pink was on his right cheek. So he is sitting in the driver seat and he was somehow hit on his right side? And Brown was not a tiny dude, if you got hit by him, its gonna leave a mark. Makes no damn sense and they could of questioned Wilson on the stand and no one did, if we had uncorrupt legal officers in the courtroom, this would of never gone down the way it did.
ChrisVosburg November 26th, 2014 at 12:03 am
Officer Friendly’s testimony is that he didn’t have time to access either mace or baton, either of these– while in the car.
Absent from the testimony he gave to the grand jury is why he did not equip himself with these tools when he left the car. That is because Darren Wilson Defense Attorney, sorry, St Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCollough, did not ask him.
Suzanne McFly November 26th, 2014 at 9:45 am
Exactly, the “prosecutor” aka Wilson’s defense attorney.
ChrisVosburg November 26th, 2014 at 12:16 am
Yeah, I’ve had a look at the photos of Darren Wilson taken shortly after the incident, purporting to demonstrate evidence of the beating he got from Michael Brown.
Apart from the misidentification of common neck flesh creases as scratches, I’d also point out that the bruises alleged as results of a punch to the face are barely visible.
I’ve done worse damage to meself shaving.
granpa.usthai November 26th, 2014 at 1:09 am
about as weird as none of Trayvon’s blood being found on the sorry sack of gz’s weapon after a month from the shooting.
tiredoftea November 25th, 2014 at 8:19 pm
Well rehearsed code words for “scary black man who deserved to die for my fear”.
cecilia November 25th, 2014 at 8:54 pm
sounds like Wilson is admitting to be a girlie-man
🙂
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 9:02 pm
I think he was well coached on what to tell the grand jury by his attorneys..
cecilia November 25th, 2014 at 10:43 pm
well, of course
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 7:34 pm
His 4 hour testimony in front of the GJ was well rehearsed.
tiredoftea November 25th, 2014 at 8:17 pm
I smell an Oscar nomination for Officer Wilson.
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 8:24 pm
I smell a civil lawsuit…
Much easier to get than a criminal conviction…
tiredoftea November 25th, 2014 at 8:27 pm
I hope the family includes the city and police department in that suit.
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 9:04 pm
Same here…:)
Tommy6860 November 25th, 2014 at 7:45 pm
I’m surprised they didn’t have Brown turning in to a shade of green the way they described the faux-rage. Maybe they did, and realized this would make Wilson more of liar than he already was.
Pappy Beagles November 25th, 2014 at 7:10 pm
So idiots would have rather had them riot during the day when stores were open, and employee’s could get hurt or killed, great thinking liberals. So quit blaming the time of announcement, and blame the animals running rampant, cause day or night they would have looted and riot anyway.
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Bob Marley..
Burning and Looting Tonight…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M99nzyiS830
StoneyCurtisll November 25th, 2014 at 7:39 pm
In a display of ignorance, Donald Trump demanded to know, “who is the moron that decided to release the grand Jury finding at 9:00pm”…
Hey Donald, it was 8:00 CST in Missouri when the finding was released.
What an idiot.
mea_mark November 25th, 2014 at 7:52 pm
The last paragraph from this http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7c802fcccbab4488b6d74ebdab9dfad9/ferguson-grand-jury-officer-fired-after-tussle
{Prosecutor Kathi Alizadeh then interjected: “Those things that you are asking is, could a person reasonably believe that their life was threatened? That’s the crux of what you all have to talk about.”}
Really, I thought the crux was about if there was reason enough for a trial. It sounds like he was asking for an innocent or guilty verdict without a trial. Did the grand jurors really even know what their job was supposed to be? This sure sounds misleading.
Bungled. Yup, it sure looks that way. There should be a trial, more than enough evidence. Improper instructions got Wilson off. That is corruption, not just bungling it.
Foundryman November 25th, 2014 at 9:08 pm
To bungle something, you first must have to try to do it right. McCulloch never wanted the GJ to even come close to indict him. He never tried to get it right.
granpa.usthai November 26th, 2014 at 1:03 am
the Missouri Klan do stick together.
rg9rts November 26th, 2014 at 1:04 am
15 seconds of fame
bpollen November 26th, 2014 at 2:22 am
How soon do you think he will be offered a job by Fox?
BentDemocrat November 28th, 2014 at 12:25 pm
He’s going to feel like a real ass when he’s named as co-defendant in the civil rights abuse trial.