Proceeding Seeking a Special Prosecutor in Ferguson
This Friday, May 29, 2015, a hearing will be held in Missouri State Court in the matter of State of Missouri ex inf. Montague Simmons, et al., v. Robert McCulloch, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney, seeking appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s conduct in the grand jury in State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson (previously discussed here). The Wilson matter arose from the death of Michael Brown. After a grand jury presentation, the grand jury failed to indict Officer Wilson in the death of Mr. Brown.
Missouri has an interesting statute, Missouri Revised Statutes §§ 106.220–106.290, that allows a private citizen to bring an action for an investigation to determine if a sitting prosecutor’s conduct constituted a failure to perform the duties of his public office. If so found, a special prosecutor would be appointed with authority to file a writ of quo warranto action seeking ouster of the sitting prosecutor from office.
The motion is supported by the affidavit of Prof. Bennett Gershman, from Pace Law School, who addresses the questions of serious misconduct in the presentation of the case to the grand jury.
Related Readings:
- State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson, Transcript of Grand Jury – August 20, 2014.
- Documents from the Ferguson Grand Jury
- The Ferguson Grand Jury Testimony – online searchable database at sayit.
- St. Louis Public Radio, Ferguson coverage including DOJ findings and evidence released by McCulloch.