Michael Brown Grand Jury Case Update: 9 of 12 Jurors Could Not Agree to Indict Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson
The most credible eyewitnesses to the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri said Brown had charged toward Police Officer Darren Wilson just before the fatal shots were fired, the St. Louis County prosecutor said Monday night, reports the New York Times.
The prosecutor, Robert P. McCulloch, held a news conference Monday to explain why a grand jury found no probable cause to indict Officer Darren Wilson.
The accounts of other witnesses claim the unarmed Brown, 18, held his hands in the air when he was shot Aug. 9. These witnesses' stories changed throughout the investigation or were inconsistent with physical evidence, said McCulloch.
"The duty of the grand jury is to separate fact and fiction," McCulloch said during the press conference. "No probable cause exists to file any charges against Darren Wilson."
The grand jurors met for 25 days over a three months and listened to the testimony of 60 witnesses. McCulloch believes they fairly judged the case because they heard all the evidence.
The St. Louis County grand jury was tasked with deciding if enough evidence existed to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson. Charges from negligent manslaughter to intentional murder could have been brought against the police officer.
Nine of the 12 jurors could not agree to indict Wilson. They accepted four hours of self-defense testimony of Officer Wilson before the grand jury. Wilson's testimony was supported by African-American eyewitnesses present at the shooting, physical evidence and the results of three autopsies, according to McCulloch.
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