It was always said that a grand jury could indict a ham sandwich. They are generally considered a rubber stamp for prosecution. Why, because the evidence is presented on the side of a DA/prosecutor. There is little if any evidence presented to counter the case to prosecute. Unanimity is not required to proceed or charge. In most criminal cases (92% to 100% under some DAs)) a grand jury will return with an indictment. In cases involving alleged police criminal activity, murder, manslaughter or assault, a grand jury returns an indictment less than 10% of the time, if the DA/prosecutor is from the same county or jurisdiction as the police under grand jury investigation. If a special prosecutor is brought in to avoid conflict of interest or to accommodate a recusal request, those grand juries return indictments less than 25%. For non-police facing similar charges it is nearly 100% with returned indictment. Please keep in mind it is not always necessary to utilize a grand jury, many cases start and are completed without utilizing one. I was not surprised at all with the results in Ferguson. I am not saying it was wrong or right, just sharing something I know.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 19:36:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015