Wednesday, January 07, 2015

MEMBER OF GRAND JURY IN MICHAEL BROWN CASE ATTEMPTS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST HANDLING OF THE CASE BY ROBERT MCCULLOCH

I haven't said a word about the case of Michael Brown being shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri (or should that be Misery after what happened during the US Civil War) because with Missouri comes the legacy of the Confederacy and the KKK and all that. Indeed, it was a member of the KKK who began the movement to raise funds for the police officer who killed Brown.

But one member of that grand jury feels so strongly that prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch mishandled the evidence and the law that he is seeking exemption from the law that bans members of the grand jury from discussing their case with the public so that he can tell us all “truthful information about a matter of public significance”.

A member of the twelve-person grand jury that failed to bring charges against Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson for killing unarmed teenager Michael Brown last year is seeking to speak publicly about what he calls a “muddled” procedure that sought to paint Brown as the wrongdoer.

The grand juror, pseudonymously identified as John Doe, filed a case in US district court to exempt him from laws preventing grand jurors from speaking publicly about proceedings they are involved in. He says this is necessary in order to present “truthful information about a matter of public significance” and exercise his First Amendment right to free speech.

The filing claims that the juror believes St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch presented evidence “with the insinuation that Brown, not Wilson, was the wrongdoer.” It adds, “The presentation of evidence to the grand jury investigating Wilson differed markedly and in significant ways from how evidence was presented in the hundreds of matters presented to the grand jury earlier in its term.”

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that McCulloch deliberately manipulated the grand jury proceeding in order to protect the killer cop from prosecution.

[source : Ferguson grand juror seeks to speak out against rigged procedure, WSWS, http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/01/07/ferg-j07.html, 7th January 2014]

But is this member alone in his quest? If so, why? Are there other jurors with similar concerns but who can't be arsed?





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