

It’s Incredibly Rare for a Grand Jury to Do What Ferguson’s Just Did - llamataboot
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ferguson-michael-brown-indictment-darren-wilson/

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cozzyd
I hope the events in Ferguson lead to a movement for the vast deployment of
police body cameras. Fortunately, some big cities are already considering
their use[1]. Evidence, albeit not abundant, suggests that they are quite
effective in reducing the number of violent incidents. [2]

[1] [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-police-body-
came...](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-police-body-cameras-
met-0903-20140903-story.html)

[2] [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-
ca...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-
police-officers.html?_r=1&)

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tzs
I believe I heard on some radio news show that it is very rare for that
particular prosecutor's office to go to a Grand Jury for a case like this.
They almost always make the prosecute/not-prosecute decision themselves.

That makes me wonder if the prosecutors had concluded that there wasn't enough
evidence to prosecute, but didn't want to be the ones to deliver that message.
Hence, they took the case to the Grand Jury to let them be the ones to do so.

~~~
ggchappell
I doubt the prosecutor had a choice. Grand juries are generally there as a
constitutional check on the power of prosecutors, and so prosecutors are
required to get an indictment for charges of a certain kind.

Disclaimer: This case was handled according to Missouri state law, about which
I know little.

~~~
cozzyd
Apparently Missouri has a very broad self-defense law which would have made
conviction extremely difficult.

From [1]:

"...as long as there is a modicum of evidence and reasonable plausibility in
support of a self-defense claim, a court must accept the claim and acquit the
accused. The prosecution must not only prove beyond a reasonable doubt that
the defendant committed the crime, but also disprove a defendant’s claim of
self-defense to the same high standard."

Although, I feel like the law would not be applied symmetrically... (if Brown
had shot Wilson several times and claimed it was because Wilson threatened
him).

[1] [http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119157/darren-wilsons-
con...](http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119157/darren-wilsons-conviction-
will-be-basically-impossible)

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Torgo
The headline says it's incredibly rare, then the second paragraph says that
while it's incredibly rare for civilians to not be indicted, it's normal for
COPS to not get indicted. So in other words, business as usual, questionable
racial implications, and an exploitative clickbaity headline.

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SyncTheory13
Thanks for posting this. If nothing else, at least we're looking at the data
and having a discussion about it. :(

