This really, REALLY has me pissed off! (Kershaw Co.)

[BluesStringer]

I understand your sentiment, however, all evidence in the Michael Brown killing was released to the public. This case is, however, different from the Michael Brown killing as the evidence has not been properly released to the public.

Not the point that I was making in the Wilson case, nor the point that Matthews was making in the James Methe case. The point is not what was released to the public after the GJ refusal to indict, it's what was presented to the GJ, the manner in which it was presented, and most significantly, the absence of adversarial cross-examination to test every aspect of what was presented for truthfulness, accuracy, state of mind, etc. etc. etc.

The transcripts of the Wilson GJ proceedings clearly shows that the prosecution served more like Wilson's defense team and treated their own witnesses against him in the most adversarial fashion ever heard before a GJ. Wilson himself was given unlimited time to narrate his side of the story, while McCulloch's team treated the only other eye witness to the beginning of the event, Dorian Johnson, as a hostile witness. The fact that Johnson may well have been distrusting and/or prejudiced ("hostile") going in against the prosecution's reliability in actually seeking an indictment for the killing of his friend is wholly validated by exactly what happened to him, to the process, and to The Constitution inside the GJ chambers.

My point stands wholly unrefuted - Matthews decries the exact same set of circumstances in the Methe case that I did within minutes of McCulloch's office announcing the no true bill in the Wilson case, but because of his (Matthews') status as an LEO, he would never admit that his and my arguments are identical, and he would likely pull the same canard out suggesting that public release of transcripts serves as some kind of public airing of the "facts" that justified Wilson's killing an unarmed young man. I feel perfectly comfortable believing that my preconceived notions about what Matthews position would be on this score is justified unless and until someone can find a quote by him from late-2014 decrying McCulloch's GJ (and make no mistake, it was McCulloch's GJ and not The People's) refusal to indict on the same grounds he decries the Methe GJ's decision.

Blues

 

[Waffles]

Just a little sidebar, for what it's worth: Matthews is an outsider; retired Secret Service who learned his PR skills by marring a local TV reporter and from working previously for the Richland County Sheriff who loves the camera almost as much his booze and women.