phxcat wrote:In this case it may not have mattered, since rioting had already occurred and there was a group of people who were probably going to riot regardless of what happened (save a guilty verdict, which wasn't going to happen) but I think that a difference between this case and Zimmerman is that in the Zimmerman case, as badly prosecuted as it was, and as bad a job as the police did in collecting and preserving evidence, we were able to watch things play out in court. Had we been able to watch this play out in court, and had it become clear (as I think it is) that there is not enough conclusive evidence either way to convict, there is a possibility that things would have simmered down.aknowledgeableperson wrote:Guess that depends on one's viewpoint, doesn't it? Would the results last night have been any different if there was a trial and Wilson was not convicted or there was a hung jury? For some there would only be justice if Wilson had gone to trial and found guilty, anything else would not be acceptable.A local justice system broken enough to spark rioting can't hold one of its own accountable?
I can picture a trial now. A dream team of defense lawyers outclassing prosecutors, much like the OJ trial. Witnesses called by the prosecutors and their testimony picked apart by the defense especially when the testimony conflicts with other witnesses and the physical evidence.
Burden of proof greater in a court trial than in grand jury proceedings. In a grand jury it would take only 9 votes out of 12 for an indictment but in a court trial all 12 would have to agree to convict.
Was Justice served? Again, what was one looking for? Was Wilson held accountable for his actions? If you wanted a conviction then no.
I agree with this. If the prosecutor wanted to indict the guy, he should have just done it. Instead, he tried the case in the front of a grand jury without the hindrance of a defense or the added pressure of media coverage. That's not what a grand jury is for.
A trial would have been a circus, for sure. But, that's the system. Trust the process [/DaytonMoore].