General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I think Wilson is a bad cop, quite possibly a racist, but I also think this was an unwinnable case. [View all]JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Of all things the framers intended, grand jury was meant to be a check against over-zealous prosecutors, instead prosecutors control the process. Trying the case is not my argument, reviewing the available evidence to determine whether there is probable cause for an indictment. Which is a very low standard. Grand juries rarely indict police officers so I'm not sure an alternative approach would have yielded different results.
For example, Coleman Brackney, a Bella Vista, Oklahoma, police officer who was convicted of misdemeanor negligent homicide in 2010 after shooting an unarmed teen to death while in custody in his cruiser, went on to rejoin the police and was recently appointed chief of police in Sulphur Springs, Oklahoma.
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/11/ferguson-police-misconductdarrenwilsongrandjury.html
If all you need is probable cause and you bring the entire case, a grand jury that knows what they're should doing should be able to find it if it exists. At-the-same time grand juries allow evidence that normally wouldn't be permitted in a trial so in theory there is more available evidence. He tasked two lawyers under him to release & present evidence as it comes in.