Ferguson Grand Jury and D.A. Should NOT Be Local (Papantonio)

[Faryn Balyncd]

Mike Papantonio appearing on The Ed Show explains why St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch is absolutely the WRONG prosecutor to present this case to the grand jury.

If McCulloch is to be prevented from whitewashing this murder, it is imperative that the governor IMMEDIATELY assign this case to an impartial jurisdiction with a prosecutor has the capacity to be impartial.

Not only does McCullough have multiple family members in the police department, a father who was killed in the line of duty by a black, but McCullough has already gone public with his pre-formed bias, blasting (in the words of the St. Louis Post Dispatch) the governor for "denigrating" the County Police by bringing in the Highway Patrol:

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch Thursday night blasted the decision by Gov. Jay Nixon to replace St. Louis County Police control of the Ferguson situation with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

“It's shameful what he did today, he had no legal authority to do that," McCulloch said. "To denigrate the men and women of the county police department is shameful."

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mcculloch-blasts-nixon-for-replacing-st-louis-county-police-control/article_0806541b-ed48-5d06-9267-323531ad6cf1.html

Such biased public pronouncements, totally outside the domain of his area of responsibility, should totally disqualify McCulloch from any role in this case.

If the governor does not exercise his duties and assure an impartial prosecutor and grand jury, the only possible outcome is a whitewash.

[libdem4life]

1. Agreed, but doesn't look like it's going to happen. They want a race war. Itchy trigger

fingers in that police force. Hunting Season. For Shame.

[Faryn Balyncd]

2. Wouldn't you yhink Gov. Nixon needs to hear from us (to do his duty)?

[libdem4life]

4. He's already got his orders...duty hardly fits any more...sad to say.

[Rex]

3. Yeah was waiting for that shoe to drop. nt

nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. They should by-pass the Grand Jury altogether

Whichever DA prosecutes this case, they should exercise their option to take this directly to the regular courts for a preliminary hearing as to whether there's probable cause to proceed to arraignment and trial. Lots of attorneys hate the Grand Jury system. It's the prosecutor's show where he can do anything he wants. The jurors are anonymous and could be all white for all we know. Proceedings are conducted behind closed doors without press access. Proceeding to the criminal court system right away for the preliminary hearing takes place in the light of day. That's what happened in the OJ case; the DA wanted to eliminate any suspicions of improper behavior because of the special racial sensitivities in that case and because of the hyper media scrutiny.

[Faryn Balyncd]

6. This DA obviously has other priorities...

I agree with you.

But is not the DA the only one who could make that decision, unless the governor re-assigns the case?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

7. The Governor needs to step in

McCullough has said he won't opt out of the Grand Jury and will proceed tomorrow morning. This guy clearly doesn't see the national and sociological importance of this case (or chooses not to see it) and the urgent necessity of showing that this process is fair and beyond fair and transparent. For all we know, he's going to nudge the Grand Jury to not bring an indictment and because the proceedings occur in secret, pretend that he did his job and it was the Grand Jurors who decided not to indict. The sad truth in America is that most DAs are political animals. The goal is not getting justice but getting re-elected. That usually means getting winning verdicts except perhaps here where he's concerned about his white constituency. And of course his particular past means he may be biased in favor of the police. The ultimate goal of course is moving up the chain of power; getting elected State Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor. There are some honest ones who seek justice along the way, but there aren't enough of the latter.

[HooptieWagon]

8. IMO, it's going to be a whitewash.

McCullough has already shown he's a pro-cop racist. He'll make sure the grand jury delivers the preordained verdict. Attorney General or Gov Nixon needs to step in and reassign the case.