Attorney: Ferguson grand jury reaches decision on Darren Wilson

November 24, 2014 by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A grand jury has reached a decision about whether to indict a Ferguson police officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown, a spokesman for St. Louis County's top prosecutor said Monday.

In a brief email to reporters, spokesman Ed Magee said the decision would be announced later Monday. He offered no immediate details.

State and local officials gave a press conference Monday to ask protestors to stay peaceful no matter the verdict, and to reaffirm support for the right of demonstrators to be heard.

"To the protesters, we will give you leeway to occupy public spaces and we will listen to your grievances, said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. "No matter what happens, some people will be angry and frustrated. And some people will be angry and frustrated at that."

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley appealed to the community to avoid violence. "It's not the time for people to turn on each other, it's time for them to turn to each other," he said.

As the nation awaited the announcement, authorities quickly stepped up security at the downtown courthouse in the St. Louis County seat of Clayton. Barricades were erected around the building, and more than 20 Missouri state troopers were seen silently assembling with rifles, 3-foot batons, riot shields and other equipment. Some nearby businesses boarded up their windows, just as many shops have already done near the site of Brown's death in Ferguson.

The grand jury has been considering charges against Darren Wilson, the white suburban St. Louis officer who fatally shot the black 18-year-old after a confrontation in August.

The prosecutor's office has told Brown's relatives that the decision will be made public after 5 p.m., family attorney Benjamin Crump told The Associated Press.

The Aug. 9 shooting inflamed tensions in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb that is patrolled by an overwhelmingly white police force. As Brown's body lay for hours in the center of a residential street, an angry crowd of onlookers gathered. Rioting and looting occurred the following night, and police responded with armored vehicles and tear gas.

Protests continued for weeks — often peacefully, but sometimes turning violent, with demonstrators throwing rocks and Molotov ****tails and police firing smoke canisters, tear gas and rubber bullets.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon traveled to St. Louis from the Capitol on Monday in advance of the grand jury announcement. He was to speak with St. Louis-area clergy on a conference call and then hold a news conference at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Pastors were planning a rally and prayer service later Monday at the West Side Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis.

"There's a lot of hurt, a lot of brokenness. There's anger and frustration on every side," said the Rev. Ronald Bobo Sr., the church's pastor. "We need the hand of God to lead us and guide us."

The 12-person grand jury has been meeting in secret for months, hearing evidence from a wide variety of witnesses as it decides whether Wilson's should face charges that could range from involuntary manslaughter to murder. The grand jurors could decide not to charge Wilson at all.

At the lower end of the possible charges is second-degree involuntary manslaughter, which is defined as acting with criminal negligence to cause a death. It is punishable by up to four years in prison. The most serious charge, first-degree murder, can be used only when someone knowingly causes a death after deliberation and is punishable by either life in prison or lethal injection.

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