I just had to get this off of my chest. I tried to keep it from being too much of a rant. These are the facts as they stand: 1. There was no consensus among eyewitnesses about whether Michael Brown was the aggressor of the confrontation that happened at Office Darren Wilsons car, with 71% unsure of the events that occurred. 2. Michael Brown was retreating when Officer Darren Wilson began shooting at him. 75% of witnesses agreed on this. 3. After he was shot, Michael Brown pivoted towards Darren Wilson, and raised his hands to some degree. 89% of witnesses testified to that effect. 4. Only 14% of witnesses claimed that Michael Brown was charging toward Wilson when the fatal shots were fired. The remaining 86% either testified that he was not charging, or were unsure. 5. Michael Brown was suspected, but never charged or convicted of any crime. Although individual witness accounts are unreliable at best, by looking at the aggregate, we can develop a reasonably accurate depiction of what most people saw: Michael Brown entered into a confrontation with Darren Wilson at Wilsons car, then fled on foot. Wilson fired at Brown, and Brown turned around, raising his hands, and was struck and killed by a gunshot to the head. Given these events, Prosecutor Robert McCullochs inability to return an indictment is stunning, not just to the Ferguson community, and the African American community at large, but to the legal community in general, to the extent that both the National Bar Association, and (conservative) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia issued condemnations of McCullochs ineffectual prosecution. Part of the reason for the near-universal indignation is that the purpose of a grand jury hearing is to review the facts to determine if there is probable cause for a trial. By acting as both prosecutor and defense attorney, McCulloch -intentionally or not- undermined his own case, rendering the grand jury unable to find the same probable cause that Darren Wilson found to stop, confront, and ultimately kill Michael Brown. This is evidenced by McCullochs failure to conduct even a cursory cross-examination of Officer Darren Wilson, after taking the unprecedented, and legally unjustifiable step of allowing him to testify at his own indictment. Some have indicated that McCullochs inept prosecution are the result of prosecutors historian all close relationship with police departments, or the result of personal bias from the death of his police officer father at the hands of criminals. While that may be true to some extent, I believe that McCullochs, and other prosecutors actions when dealing with police violence, or white violence in general, are merely symptoms of what Washington Post columnist Colbert King refers to as our societys unquestioning acceptance of the, authority [given to police officers] to enter the [black] community backed by the extralegal support of white sentiment. It is the type of unseen, unspoken, unacknowledged, but very real authority delegated to white authority figures that gives them the benefit of the doubt in almost every situation. It is the authority that allowed George Zimmerman to be acquitted of all charges, even after pursuing Trayvon Martin, killing him, and changing his story multiple times, under oath and during police investigations. It is the authority that allows 4 white cops to shoot a black police officer 28 times, then accuse and convict him of attempted murder, despite failing to produce gun residue, a supposedly damaged bulletproof vest, or any evidence indicating that the black officer fired a single shot (Howard Morgan was sentenced to 40 years in prison just two years ago. Please read his story). And it is the type of authority that allows a white police officer to shoot and kill a fleeing, surrendering, unarmed black teen, testify at his own indictment without cross-examination, and walk free, despite nearly 20 witnesses directly contradicting his version of events. Make no mistake, times have changed, and circumstances have improved dramatically. But forgive me if Im starting to feel like Dred Scott set a new, unwritten precedent: that the black man has no rights which the white cop was bound to respect. Sources: pbs.org/newshour/updates/newly-released-witness-testimony-tell-us-michael-brown-shooting/ mashable/2014/11/26/ferguson-shooting-eyewitness-testimonies/ countercurrentnews/2014/11/national-bar-association-lawyers-release-statement-indicating-ferguson-prosecutor-corruption/ huffingtonpost/2014/11/26/justice-scalia-explains-w_n_6228816.html washingtonpost/opinions/colbert-king-deep-south-justice-in-ferguson/2014/11/28/23cdb404-75b4-11e4-a755-e32227229e7b_story.html?tid=HP_opinion?tid=HP_opinion en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Morgan_case
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 22:21:28 +0000
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