Post by underwaterrhymes on Sept 23, 2014 9:24:11 GMT -5
Fucking disgusting.
If we didn't already know that racism is deeply embedded in our society, we sure as fuck should now. This has been a giant shit show from the get-go and it just keeps getting worse and worse.
Grand jury now has until January to decide whether to charge Ferguson officer
CLAYTON • The grand jury considering whether Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson should be criminally charged in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown now has until Jan. 7 to decide.
The extension of the grand jurors’ term of duty does not necessarily mean the job will take that long, officials said. But it could.
There is significant apprehension, especially along the West Florissant Avenue business strip hit by looting and rioting after the killing Aug. 9, that violence might return if the grand jury does not send Wilson to trial for something. Some activists have threatened as much.
A St. Louis County grand jury usually sits for four months, a period that for the current panel expired last week. State law provides for a term of up to six months, which moves the date to November. On Sept. 10, Circuit Judge Carolyn Whittington issued an order adding 60 days more.
“She extended it to the full amount allowed by law,” Court Administrator Paul Fox said Monday. But he added that the grand jury will keep meeting until Jan. 7 only if it needs to.
The panel now is hearing evidence in the Michael Brown case exclusively, and can meet whenever it needs to, Fox said.
The grand jury is 12 people selected from the standard jury pool to meet in secret, usually weekly, to hear evidence and decide whether criminal charges are warranted. It takes nine votes to issue an indictment, which sends a defendant to a public trial.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch can bypass a grand jury and take a case to trial by filing a complaint that goes first to a preliminary hearing, a public proceeding in which a judge decides if there should be a trial. Often, his office files a charge first and then obtains an indictment to replace it, avoiding the preliminary hearing.
McCulloch chose to take the full investigation of Wilson’s use of deadly force to the grand jury. He announced weeks ago that he would present all the evidence gathered, leaving to grand jurors the decision of what to do.
His spokesman, Ed Magee, said Monday it is a somewhat unusual circumstance in that the office is not asking the grand jury to endorse a charge already filed. He said prosecutors will help the grand jury navigate legal issues and draw its own conclusion about what to do with Wilson.
Wilson is entitled but not obligated to testify. If he does, he must leave his attorney at the door.
Police said that Wilson, who is white, struggled with Brown, 18, who was black, and that during the episode Brown was killed by Wilson’s shots. Some witnesses have said Brown was surrendering when he died.
i meant to comment when this was posted but was on my phone.
did they type months when they meant weeks? it has only been 4 weeks since the murder
No, 4 months is correct. The GJ was near the end of their 4 months when the case was brought to them. They are continuing to meet on this case past their standard 4 month duty. They first extended it to six months, then extended an additional 60 days.
I'm obviously not a firefighter, but I didn't think something like that would light up in that manner from some candles. Especially since I would think some of that stuff is probably damp.
I'm obviously not a firefighter, but I didn't think something like that would light up in that manner from some candles. Especially since I would think some of that stuff is probably damp.
I'm obviously not a firefighter, but I didn't think something like that would light up in that manner from some candles. Especially since I would think some of that stuff is probably damp.
Looting has begun again. Beauty Town was just broke into on W. Florrisant. Reports of gun shots a few blocks from there. Everything, for the time being, is only on Twitter.
ETA: looting may not be the correct term. The window were busted, but doesn't look like anything was taken. There is a very angry crowd of about 200 on W. Florrisant.
There are a group of protestors at FPD, the chief comes out to speak to them. Talks about mistakes have been made, needing to build trust, etc. Then he says he will march with them and begins to do so. It sounds as if the other officers didn't like that/understand what he was doing and just started tackling people.
Today the police pressured the owner of the lot where the protestors have been congregating to make the protestors leave (the pressuring by police is a Twitter rumor but makes sense). The owner has let them stay this whole time and now he tells them to leave? 3 members of Lost Voices were arrested when the police came and dismantled their camp and took all their possessions.
Lots of talk that something big may be coming soon. McCullough is doing interviews with the press, Chief Jackson does his video apology, then comes out to speak to protestors and attempts to march with them, now the protestors have lost the property where they were legally able to assemble.
I fear for tonight and the rest of the weekend. There are many angry people.
Post by penguingrrl on Sept 26, 2014 19:23:31 GMT -5
Anodyne, thank you for the updates. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm not tired of them at all. I appreciate being kept up to date on this as things unfold.
Thank you anodyne I, too, worry that there won't be charges but I think the GJ has until Feb? I heard about Dasha getting arrested today and I don't know why they keep up with the arrests of peaceful protesters. I hope this election deseats some of these bastards.
I think Jan, but extending it was more of a CYA. McCullough said it should be sometime late Oct to mid Nov.
Last night I had my WTF face all night.
A few people were tweeting about the police talking over their radios, describing certain protestors. Some believe they were targeting the live tweeters. Umar Lee was also arrested and was in for almost 24 hours. He was charged with resisting arrest, assulting and officer and disobeying.
All cases that Wilson was involved in are on hol because he won't show up to testify. How is this possible? What happened to the right to a speedy trial? How can he be on paid leave and not show up to do his job?
ST. LOUIS — All court cases involving Darren Wilson as an arresting officer or the lead investigator have been put on hold, according to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
Ed Magee, a spokesperson for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's office, said the roughly half-dozen cases involving Wilson as the arresting officer were put on hold shortly after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9. However, a preliminary hearing for a drug case involving Wilson as the arresting officer was scheduled for Monday.
Magee called the move standard procedure in cases where police officers are not immediately available to testify in court.
USATODAY Ferguson police arrest 7; manhunt continues Wilson arrested Christopher Brooks last year in his grandmother's driveway, according to Brooks' attorney. Magee said the Brooks case happened to have "slipped through the cracks."
Brooks is being represented by St. Louis attorney Nick Zotos. Zotos said Wilson is still scheduled to appear at a grand jury proceeding on the drug case Wednesday. Zoto doesn't believe Wilson will show up.
Zotos alleges Wilson "roughed up" his client after Brooks refused to hand over the keys to a locked car parked in his grandmother's driveway, where police say they found drug paraphernalia and several ounces of pot. Zotos wants the drug distribution charge dismissed because he doesn't expect Wilson, who didn't attend the preliminary hearing, to show up in court.
"Wilson is compromised as a witness," said Zotos, who opposed the initial request by McCulloch's office to shift the drug case to a panel that meets behind closed doors. It wasn't clear whether Brooks made the allegation against Wilson before or after Brown was killed.
A police union attorney who has spent decades representing members of law enforcement in court told The Associated Press on Monday that he represents Wilson, who is under investigation by another grand jury over whether he used excessive force in the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown.
James P. Towey, general counsel for the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police and a former general counsel for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, said Wilson may be willing to publicly discuss the case in the future. He declined to provide details of the whereabouts of Wilson, who has gone into hiding since Brown's death.
Wilson, 28, received a Ferguson City Council commendation in February for his role in Brooks' arrest one year earlier. Zotos questioned whether the honor was merited.
USATODAY Timeline: Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Mo. "We give trophies every day for just showing up," he said after the brief hearing in St. Louis Circuit Court. "If you play on the team, you get a trophy."
The grand jury is reviewing evidence in Brown's death to determine whether Wilson should face criminal charges in the shooting that led to violent protests, hundreds of arrests, the summoning of the Missouri National Guard for security and international attention. McCulloch has said he expects that grand jury to complete its work by mid-October or early November, though its term has been extended until January.
The assistant prosecutor, who did not identify himself in court, did not indicate during the hearing why the county wants to shift the case to the grand jury. Magee did not provide a reason but said it didn't involve an effort to prevent information about Wilson from being publicly disclosed.
The St. Louis County Grand Jury that is scheduled to hear the Brooks drug case is different from the grand jury that is deciding whether to charge Wilson in Brown's shooting.
Magee said the grand jury that is determining if Wilson will be charged in the Brown shooting will not be hearing or considering information about Wilson's involvement in the arrest of Christopher Brooks.
There was also a federal court hearing yesterday on the 5 second rule (where the protestors are subject to arrest if they stand still for 5 seconds). The hearing was to be 4 hours and last 8. The ruling is expected today.
There was also a federal court hearing yesterday on the 5 second rule (where the protestors are subject to arrest if they stand still for 5 seconds). The hearing was to be 4 hours and last 8. The ruling is expected today.
Thank you. I haven't been tracking this aspect at all.
There was also a federal court hearing yesterday on the 5 second rule (where the protestors are subject to arrest if they stand still for 5 seconds). The hearing was to be 4 hours and last 8. The ruling is expected today.
This sounds absurd-am I missing something about why this is not absurd?
Are you fucking kidding me? Either a GJ member is guilty of misconduct or the Wilson supporters need to be right so badly that they are making shit up (again). What would that be, the fourth time?
Little Ms @micworker is a peach I tell ya.
I feel like this case needs a Stefon gif "this case has everything"
There is a screenshot in the article of the tweet.
The St. Louis County prosecutor’s office is investigating an accusation of misconduct on the grand jury that is hearing the case against the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Ed Magee, the spokesman for county prosecutor Robert McCulloch, said they received the information from a “Twitter user” Wednesday morning.
“We are looking into the matter,” he said.
An account of possible jury misconduct surfaced Wednesday morning on Twitter, when several users sent messages about one juror who may have discussed evidence in the case with a friend.
In one of those messages, a person tweeted that they are friends with a member of the jury who doesn’t believe there is enough evidence to warrant an arrest of the officer, Darren Wilson.
The same person who tweeted about being friends with a member of the jury has also tweeted messages of support for Wilson.
Magee confirmed that the Twitter user and feed came from an activist, Shaun King.
The jury has been weighing evidence on the case since Aug. 20, within days of the Aug. 9 shooting. McCulloch told The Washington Post last week that both the FBI and county police’s investigations into the shooting are “pretty much done.” He also said that jurors should be done hearing all the evidence by later this month, but they could meet through mid-November.
Grand jury proceedings are confidential and if there has been a breach, the prosecutor’s office may have to start over with a newly empaneled group.
Meanwhile, Ferguson is grappling with continuing protests amid the wait over whether Wilson will face charges.