The grand jury process in Ferguson

Gabriel Chin, a law professor at the University of California-Davis, explained the grand jury process in an interview with the New Republic:

"If the prosecutor had wanted to bring charges, he could have proceeded by filing an information charging the officer with an offense, which would have resulted in a preliminary hearing before a judge who would have determined whether probable cause existed. 

"To proceed by grand jury rather than information and preliminary hearing meant that the prosecutor believed charges were unwarranted, but that he wanted the grand jury to at least share responsibility for the decision. . . .

"The prosecutor did err in his statement when he said "The duty of the grand jury is to separate fact from fiction."  The grand jury is obliged to determine whether there is probable cause, not what the actual truth is."

There is absolutely no doubt that Prosecutor McCulloch did not want Officer Wilson to be indicted.   If he wanted to avoid the responsibility, he could have punted by asking the governor to appoint a special prosecutor.  The problem with tht is that it might have resulted in an indictment.   The governor also punted when he said he would not appoint a special prosecutor, unless McCulloch requested it.    In this case, a special prosecutor was exactly what was needed, but it seems that no white person involved in the case actually wanted an indictment.

McCulloch took the coward's way out.  In effect, he made a show of washing his hands of the responsibility by dumping it on the grand jury -- and at the same time manipulating the process so it appeared to be a completely thorough and open hearing of all the evidence.  But he clearly signaled to the grand jury that he was not seeking an indictment.

Ralph