Galindez writes: "Let's face it, most grand juries in America are one-sided events where a prosecutor puts on just enough evidence to get a jury to believe there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. It's not the venue where you present all the evidence seeking reasonable doubt."
St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch announces the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson Monday in Clayton, Missouri. (photo: Cristina Fletes-Boutte/Reuters)
ALSO SEE: Documents Released in the Ferguson Case
ALSO SEE: The Single Chart That Shows Grand Juries Indict 99.99 Percent of the Time
25 November 14
et’s face it, most grand juries in America are one-sided events where a prosecutor puts on just enough evidence to get a jury to believe there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. It’s not the venue where you present all the evidence seeking reasonable doubt.
The prosecutor runs a grand jury, there is no defense attorney present, the accused is not represented in the room, and over 9 out of every 10 defendants brought before a grand jury are indicted. There is the old saying that a halfway decent prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich.
That brings us to the case of Darren Wilson. Was there probable cause? Michael Brown was unarmed, he was shot numerous times, and witnesses said his hands were in the air. That’s enough to indict, and if Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor, wanted the grand jury to find probable cause, he could have succeeded.
I listened closely to the whole press conference where Bob McCulloch laid out the evidence presented to the grand jury. What I heard was a prosecutor turned defense attorney seeking reasonable doubt.
Bob McCulloch was not a prosecutor seeking justice for Michael Brown, he served as Darren Wilson’s legal advocate, and instead of asking the grand jury to find probable cause for a trial, he sought reasonable doubt for an acquittal.
Let’s hope the federal prosecutor does his job.
Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.
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