Post by Logan on Feb 22, 2016 2:13:21 GMT -6
Lawyers on both sides of Michael Brown wrongful-death suit want grand jury witness names
ST. LOUIS • St. Louis County prosecutors promised secrecy to witnesses who testified in front of the grand jury that investigated the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson police. But now lawyers on both sides of his family’s wrongful-death lawsuit want those names.
The killing of Brown on Aug. 9, 2014, set off weeks of protests and sometimes riots, which flared again that Nov. 24, when the grand jury did not indict Officer Darren Wilson.
Prosecutor Kathi Alizadeh, who was primarily responsible for providing evidence to that grand jury, said in a court affidavit that she had promised to protect the names of witnesses, who were brought in to testify via “secret routes.” Even federal prosecutors and FBI agents requested anonymity, she wrote.
Most witnesses and grand jurors “expressed fears of retribution and/or retaliation because of the public furor and virulent public sentiment surrounding ... the investigation,” Alizadeh wrote.
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lawyers-on-both-sides-of-michael-brown-wrongful-death-suit/article_1a4f228b-5d0b-5c9b-bcc3-8f1e16a7d917.html
ST. LOUIS • St. Louis County prosecutors promised secrecy to witnesses who testified in front of the grand jury that investigated the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson police. But now lawyers on both sides of his family’s wrongful-death lawsuit want those names.
The killing of Brown on Aug. 9, 2014, set off weeks of protests and sometimes riots, which flared again that Nov. 24, when the grand jury did not indict Officer Darren Wilson.
Prosecutor Kathi Alizadeh, who was primarily responsible for providing evidence to that grand jury, said in a court affidavit that she had promised to protect the names of witnesses, who were brought in to testify via “secret routes.” Even federal prosecutors and FBI agents requested anonymity, she wrote.
Most witnesses and grand jurors “expressed fears of retribution and/or retaliation because of the public furor and virulent public sentiment surrounding ... the investigation,” Alizadeh wrote.
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lawyers-on-both-sides-of-michael-brown-wrongful-death-suit/article_1a4f228b-5d0b-5c9b-bcc3-8f1e16a7d917.html