More than a month after he shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Officer Darren Wilson made an appearance in front of a grand jury to testify on Wednesday.
Wilson has not been seen since he shot 18-year-old Brown six times near the Canfield apartments. Police kept his identity sealed for a week after the shooting, citing safety as the reason for withholding the information.
The grand jury is investigating whether or not to charge Wilson in the shooting. They have until January to make their decision.
According to St. Louis Today, Wilson testified for nearly four hours.
Wilson was not obligated to appear, and also has spoken with St. Louis County investigators twice and federal investigators once, the source said. The source said Wilson was “cooperative.”
Ed Magee, a spokesperson for Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch’s office, refused to comment on the witnesses that have testified in front of the grand jury. But McCulloch has pledged to “present every witness and every shred of evidence to let the grand jurors independently decide whether to indict Wilson, without the prosecutor making a recommendation,” according to STL Today.
McCulloch took the rare step of having audio recordings and a transcript made of the secret proceedings, with a promise to release them publicly if there is no indictment. McGee acknowledged that opening the material would require an order from a judge, who could say no.
Magee said McCulloch’s office had talked about the potential effect on witnesses “a little bit” and “it’s still being discussed.” He said prosecutors could decide to withhold witness names, especially those who are not police officers and may have particular safety issues.
He said the names of the grand jurors would not be made public, and it was unclear whether documents would be released that necessarily would carry the foreperson’s signature.
Magee said the timing of the announcement of the grand jury’s decision, once it’s made, was “still being discussed.”
We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
SOURCE: STL Today | PHOTO CREDIT: Facebook
