^^^ For anybody that thinks protests have stopped


http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/01/ferguson-grand-juror-suing-prosecutor/

A massive 58-point lawsuit has just been filed by a juror in Darren Wilson case against St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch. The suit alleges that the prosecutor deliberately “botched” the case against Officer Darren Wilson and chose instead to put Mike Brown – the officer’s victim – on trial.

The suit is an effort for the juror to speak freely and openly about what happened during the Darren Wilson grand jury deliberations. If you thought that the decision not to indict Officer Wilson was fair, this grand jury member says you should think again: there is a lot that you haven’t been told about what went on, and they want to be able to legally tell you about it.

The juror is suing St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch for that legal right, adding that McCulloch mischaracterized the proceedings through and through and presented a “muddled” case, according to St. Louis Public Radio.

In a lawsuit (pdf) that was filed Monday morning, the unnamed juror, who was described as “Grand Juror Doe”, alleged that McCulloch’s statements made to the press after the announcement of the refusal to indict, were completely inaccurate and need to be addressed. But since the law currently prohibits the juror from speaking about what went on in the deliberation process and behind closed doors, that is not something they can do as of yet.

The lawsuit states that in the juror’s “view, the current information available about the grand jurors’ views is not entirely accurate — especially the implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges. Moreover, the public characterization of the grand jurors’ view of witnesses and evidence does not accord with ’s own.”

The juror notes a double standard that McCulloch has been permitted to speak at length about the grand jury’s deliberations – even making false claims about the jurors, what they said, thought and decided – even though he was not present and these alleged statements he is making claims about were not recorded by a court reporter.

“Plaintiff’s impression that evidence was presented differently than in other cases, with the insinuation that Brown, not Wilson, was the wrongdoer,” the suit reads.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri has officially filed the suit on the juror’s behalf, arguing that McCulloch’s presentation of the case means that normal rules prohibiting jurors to maintain secrecy should not apply here.

“From ’s perspective, although the release of a large number of records provides an appearance of transparency, with heavy redactions and the absence of context, those records do not fully portray the proceedings before the grand jury,” the lawsuit continues.

The ACLU says that they are requesting a judge to grant an injunction which will stop anyone from enforcing, or threatening to enforce, the relevant laws that would require jurors to remain silent about this particular grand jury deliberation.

(Article by Moreh B.D.K.; image by Counter Current News)