Jury duty, let me tell you for those who haven't had the privilege/duty/downright burden -- Jury duty is 'Not a Picnic', not by any noble construing of the word.
It kind of feels like the 'whole weight of the world' is on your shoulders -- and it takes a lot of guts and personal fortitude, to speak out against the tide; to speak out for the sake of true justice. And against the calls for 'expediency' ... because rendering a quick verdict, means everyone can go home now, and get back to their lives. Such is the uphill peer pressure, in that closed deliberation room of 12 fellow-citizens.
For Ferguson Grand Jury, Details and Responsibilities Are Abundant
by Eric Eckholm and Julie Bosmann, NYTimes.com -- November 14, 2014
[...]
Routinely, grand juries are virtual rubber stamps for prosecutors, approving the proposed indictments after hearing from a few witnesses and getting the bare outlines of the incriminating evidence.
But the Ferguson case, laden with incendiary emotions, is anything but routine, and the grand jury proceeding has been highly unusual.
[...]
"Unusual." That's one word for it.
From having Officer Wilson testify to the Grand Jury himself;
to examining ALL the evidence -- “presenting absolutely everything” -- to the Grand Jury in "exhaustive" detail ... as if it were the actual criminal trail -- and not simply the official proceedings to "determine whether criminal charges should be brought," ... or not.
Whether or not the real Criminal Trial should be indeed held ...
Still there are some meritorious things these NYT authors are saying -- mainly that 'the prosecutor is entrusting the Grand Jury to decide' the seriousness of the crime(s) that occurred that fateful, terrible day.
That's one heavy cross, these Grand Jurors are being asked to carry ...
[...]
“The grand jury will be given a range of potential charges, from murder first to involuntary manslaughter, just as they would in a jury trial,” said Edward Magee, the prosecutor’s spokesman. The panel will also be instructed in the statutes governing self-defense and the use of deadly force by law enforcement agents.
The most likely crimes to receive consideration, legal experts said, were:
• Second-degree murder, defined as “knowingly causing the death of another person” and punishable by a prison term of 10 to 30 years;
• Voluntary manslaughter, which is causing a death “under the influence of sudden passion arising from adequate cause,” with a penalty of five to 15 years;
• Involuntary manslaughter in the first degree, which can mean “recklessly” causing a death, with a penalty not to exceed seven years;
• Involuntary manslaughter in the second degree, which is acting “with criminal negligence” to cause a death, with a penalty not to exceed four years.
The grand jurors will also have to consider the grounds for official use of deadly force, which is legal when an officer “reasonably believes” that a person “may otherwise endanger life or inflict serious physical injury unless arrested without delay,” as well as a broader self-defense clause, which allows anyone to use deadly force when he or she “reasonably believes” it is necessary to prevent death or serious injury.
[...]
If it is indeed true that "
no-recusal" prosecuting attorney Robert P. McCulloch, is entrusting the Grand Jury to decide the matter -- could his confidence in their unbiased finding have anything to do with the make-up of the Grand Jury ("12 jurors, nine white and three black");
and this not so trivial detail that it will take "at least nine of the 12 jurors [to] agree that there is “probable cause” " to bring a criminal charge ...
And to "authorize" the prosecutorial grounds to proceed, with this landmark case, and its search for justice. For Micheal Brown and his family; and all the citizens of Ferguson; and of beginning the long-overdue healing of racial divide that still rules in so many corners, and overly-patrolled streets of America.
Here's to hoping that our People-based, Jury of our Peers, Justice system (theoretically), is indeed color-blind in this very important -- and weighty -- case.