Darren Wilson testifies in front of grand juryBy St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) September 18, 2014 6:48 am
ST. LOUIS -- Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson testified for almost four hours Tuesday in front of a St. Louis County grand jury investigating the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown, a source with knowledge of the investigation said Wednesday.
Wilson was not obligated to testify, and has also spoken with St. Louis County investigators twice and federal investigators once, the source said. The source said that Wilson had been "cooperative."
Ed Magee, a spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch's office, said Wednesday that he would not comment on which witnesses have testified.
[.....]
McCulloch isn't presenting the case to the grand jury himself. That is the job of two assistant prosecutors, Kathi Alizadeh and Sheila Whirley. Alizadeh, who is white, is the homicide prosecutor on duty and has 27 years' experience. Whirley, who is black, has the grand jury assignment and has 18 years' experience.
Clayton defense lawyer John Rogers, who is not involved in the Brown case, has represented thousands of people in his 20 years in practice and said a defendant has no constitutional right to testify before a grand jury. He said , "It's unusual but not unheard of for a prosecutor to extend an invitation" for a defendant to testify.
He said he has had clients who were invited to testify but he rarely allowed it. The defense lawyer isn't allowed in the room, but the defendant can take a break at any time and walk into the hallway to consult with his lawyer.
Asked why a defense lawyer wouldn't want the defendant to testify before a grand jury, Rogers replied, "You don't always want to preview what your defense would be at such an early stage. A prosecutor's presentation to the grand jury has a huge impact on the decision of the grand jury, so I would have to be very convinced that the prosecutor's intentions were not to indict before I would agreeable to avail my client to this process."
Cohen said prosecutors have great influence over grand juries by presenting the evidence, calling the witnesses and instructing the jurors on the applicable law. The prosecutor can decide not to instruct the grand jury on a charge of murder, for instance, and instead only instruct the jury on criminal negligence, Cohen said. Or, Cohen added, the prosecutor could instruct the grand jury on several charges, including manslaughter.
...more at linkhttp://www.gopusa.com/news/2014/09/18/d ... rand-jury/