Don Lemon: Indictment of Darren Wilson Looks ‘Like it’s Not Going to Happen’
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Source: Mediaite.com & The Tom Joyner Morning Show
Don Lemon on the The Tom Joyner Morning Show Thursday said new reports on the Michael Brown shooting indicate that an indictment of officer Darren Wilson is more unlikely than previously thought.
“Barring a videotape that clearly shows the events on Canfield Drive on August 9, 2014 — judging from the evidence revealed thus far, anything is possible — but at this point an indictment of officer Darren Wilson is looking more and more like it’s not going to happen,” Lemon said.
The St. Louis Dispatch reported this week that experts who have looked over Brown’s autopsy report concluded that an altercation took place between Wilson, a white officer, and Brown, a black man, before Brown was shot dead. Though some witnesses of the shooting have said Brown was shot with his hands up or walking away, the experts interviewed by the Dispatch said that the autopsy report did not support those accounts. They said it appeared that Brown had confronted Wilson and reached for the officer’s gun. The Dispatch noted that the experts interviewed were not involved with the official investigation into the shooting, which provoked racial unrest in the St. Louis, Mo., area and across the nation.
A grand jury is currently deliberating on whether to indict Wilson, who says he acted in self-defense. Lemon said that it’s possible leaks were coming out of the grand jury as a way to prepare protesters in the St. Louis area for a non indictment.
Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/don-lemon-indictment-of-darren-wilson-looks-like-its-not-going-to-happen/
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JustAnotherGen
(31,769 posts)Seriously - 1strongblackman posted a thread in the A.A. Group.
The DOJ Statement on . . .
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11879318
Article I referenced in my response:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ferguson-civil-rights-20140903-story.html
I'd much rather a full deep dive which Holder's DOJ has been successful with on about half of their investigations - than this one guy getting a hand slap (the most anyone could have hoped for).
big_dog
(4,144 posts)put in someone else that can be fair
jeff47
(26,549 posts)MO law requires the local DA to request a special prosecutor. The governor can't just appoint a special prosecutor.
So no, Nixon didn't fuck up anything. He dared to obey MO's fucked-up law. McCullough is the one who fucked up, and continues to do so.
Feral Child
(2,086 posts)Extremely pertinent.
gordianot
(15,229 posts)If someone really thinks that leaks are in anyway going to prepare or mitigate reaction they are full of shit. As for as myself even though I live close to St. Louis I will never step foot in that town again.
Garion_55
(1,915 posts)the recent 'leaks' were pathetic if you look at them. nothing in them proves brown was going for the gun. doesnt prove he didnt, but doesnt prove it either way.
one of the experts the article quoted was on lawrence odonell last night and they pointed out that the newspaper refused to print half the stuff she said to them. they only printed what she said that helped the officers case. they left out all the stuff she said that cast doubt on his case.
plus nothing that was released focuses in on what happened once brown starts to run away from the vehicle. from this point till brown is dead should be where the criminal charges come from.
did wilson fire at all at brown when brown was running away? at that point brown was no threat to the officer and there would be no way for wilson to justify any of those shots if they happened. thats attempted murder right there.
did brown stop running because bullets were wizzing by his head like the witnesses said? or did he stop running because the cop told him to? nothing in this report addresses that.
finally when brown was facing him, what caused wilson to fear for his life to that point that he had no choice but to shoot? a man who had already been shot at least once, unarmed and 40 feet away, starting to come at him? is that enough justification to put 5 more bullets into a person?
nothing in this report addresses that.
to me this is an open and shut case. if he shot at brown even once while brown was running away and his back turned to wilson, its all over. no way to justify that. an indictment should be easy.
that said i've felt from the beginning that his local buddies in the prosecutors office would be doing everything in their power to make sure he walks and so an indictment probably wont happen. not because of the evidence, because of the good old boy network.
its going to probably have to take a federal indictment for the brown family to get their day in court.
and yeah i imagine some riots are coming
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)And when there are conflicting witness accounts the ones backed by the forensic evidence get much more weight and credibility.
Trusting a witness is a matter of faith when there is no other hard evidence. People pick the version of events they have faith in, based upon whatever biases you have going in.
Once science comes into play, that trumps witness accounts. Much like religion, if you choose to ignore science and go with the witness testimony only based upon just faith and preconceived notions you are choosing to ignore reality.
What the grand jury has to do is take all the witness accounts, then look at the science, and figure out what witness accounts have the most credibility based upon the facts that can be established via scientific investigation.
And yes, some people will be so sure thier beliefs of what went down are right they will find every reason to attack, dismiss or ignore the science. In the exact same way the anti-vaxxers do.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)If Michael Brown's blood is found on the officer's gun, on the officer's clothing and inside the officer's vehicle, it clearly means Michael Brown came near the vehicle and a part of his body (hand) was shot inside the vehicle.
It supports the officer's story entirely.
DallasNE
(7,402 posts)When the prosecutor has close ties to the police and then only provides exculpatory evidence. It is why a special prosecutor was needed from day one on this case.
Even this story is flawed because it only speaks of eyewitness accounts and concludes they are wrong because the evidence shows otherwise. There is cell phone video evidence that closely supports the eyewitness accounts. It is pretty obvious that none of this incriminating evidence has been presented to the Grand Jury judging from the comment "Barring a videotape that clearly shows the events on Canfield Drive on August 9, 2014". Substantial video evidence has already been shown in the media so what are they talking about.
Good luck if they thing reports like this will "prepare protesters in the St. Louis area for a non indictment". It is more like pouring gas on the fire so somebody is blinded by the reality.
hlthe2b
(102,060 posts)LBN is limited to important news and does not allow for opinion or analysis. Host consensus is that this represents pundit opinion. Please feel free to re-post in GD or Good Reads.
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