Perhaps the GJ really had no other option

[sarisataka]

I looked up MO justification for police use of force and found this:

Missouri's Standard for Use of Deadly Force While Making an Arrest Is Absurdly Lax

Peter Suderman|Aug. 15, 2014 4:35 pm


In the wake of the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri last weekend, one of the key questions is whether the killing was legal under Missouri law.

Crucials details of the incident, in which officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Brown, who was unarmed, are still unclear.

But we can take a look at what the state has to say about when an officer can use deadly force by police while making an arrest.

Basically, the rules say that an officer has to "reasonably believe" that such force is necessary immediately in order to proceed with the arrest and also that the person either committed a felony or is a threat.

Here's the legalese:


3. A law enforcement officer in effecting an arrest or in preventing an escape from custody is justified in using deadly force only

(1) When such is authorized under other sections of this chapter; or

(2) When he reasonably believes that such use of deadly force is immediately necessary to effect the arrest and also reasonably believes that the person to be arrested

(a) Has committed or attempted to commit a felony; or

(b) Is attempting to escape by use of a deadly weapon; or

(c) May otherwise endanger life or inflict serious physical injury unless arrested without delay.

4. The defendant shall have the burden of injecting the issue of justification under this section.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/08/15/missouris-standard-for-use-of-deadly-for
3(2)(a) is so broad it can include just about anything
Per Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 565 Offenses Against the Person Section 565.082

(2) Knowingly causes or attempts to cause physical injury to a law enforcement officer, corrections officer, emergency personnel, highway worker in a construction zone or work zone, utility worker, cable worker, or probation and parole officer by means other than a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument;
***
(6) Purposely or recklessly places a law enforcement officer, corrections officer, emergency personnel, highway worker in a construction zone or work zone, utility worker, cable worker, or probation and parole officer in apprehension of immediate serious physical injury;

Merely taking a step towards an officer could be considered placing him in apprehension of immediate serious physical injury

3(2)(c) is basically "Or any other reason" as an officer could always claim it was his belief the arrestee could inflict serious physical injury on someone.

Given how these standards set the bar so incredibly low and the unusual way the DA presented the case, it would have been virtually impossible to honestly vote for indictment.
Wilson didn't need to testify; he could have just dropped a Monopoly Get Out of Jail Free card on the table and walked away.

[avebury]

1. Had I been on the GJ

I would have taken a hard look as to how the Prosecutor treated Wilson on the stand. If they failed to ask him any questions or soft balled it I would have seen it as a big red flag.

I would love to know more about the background of the members of the GJ in order to guage their ability to think independently vs being taken down the garden path.

My problems is that I really think that Wilson instigated the whole thing. I think that he felt disrected by these black kids do he came back around to confront them. At that point the whole thing went out of control at the speed of light. This is a man who has no business being a cop in the first place.

[sarisataka]

2. I don't doubt that

so many want to throw a microscope on Mr. Brown's past while ignoring that there are discrepancies in Wilson's past. Anecdotes indicate he could have such tendency as to escalate a situation.
It was only recently that the Ferguson police started putting disciplinary complaints in the officer's files.

[avebury]

3. Because they used to hide them with an original

incident file instead of putting it in the officer's (officers') file (files). If could not point out a specific incident in order to find the disciplinary file you would never be able to find. it.