Bob McCulloch (prosecutor)

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After the August 9, 2014, shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, McCulloch announced that rather than making a decision about whether to arrest Wilson, he would bring the case before a grand jury, [4] leaving to jurors the decision of what charges might be brought, if any. [22] His spokesman acknowledged that it was unusual that the prosecutor was not asking the grand jury to endorse a specific charge. [22] It was also unusual to present a case to a grand jury before the police investigation was over. [5] [23]

Cornell Brooks, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), called for a special prosecutor to replace McCulloch in the case, saying that was needed to restore credibility with Ferguson's black community. [7] [24] [25]

On November 24, McCulloch reported in a press conference that the grand jury reached a decision in the case and elected "not to indict Wilson". [26] Immediately after the announcement, McCulloch said that he appointed prosecutors in his office to handle the case, rather than himself, because "he was 'fully aware of unfounded but growing concern that the investigation might not be fair.'" [27]

In his 23 years on the job, this was the fifth time McCulloch presented evidence to a grand jury in a shooting by police; in each case, the grand jury came back without an indictment. [28]

Post-case analysis

Following the grand jury result, criticism was directed at McCulloch over the handling, result, and other aspects of the grand jury process, while other analysts defended his handling of the matter.

Former Supreme Court clerk Eric Citron wrote on SCOTUSblog , that the grand jury investigation was atypical. Citron argues that, based on case law – a question raised in United States v. Williams – prosecutors can withhold "substantial exculpatory evidence" in order to obtain an indictment, as the role of the grand jury is not to determine guilt, but rather to decide whether there is enough evidence of a crime; exculpatory evidence can be presented at trial. Citron presented the dissent from Justice Stevens, who said that the prosecutor need not "ferret out and present all evidence that could be used at trial to create a reasonable doubt as to defendant's guilt." Citron then asserts that when a prosecutor wants an indictment, a grand jury process like what happened in Wilson's case would not be expected. [29]

Other legal experts asserted that McCulloch deflected responsibility for failing to indict Wilson, and created conditions in which the grand jury would not indict him either. Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard University, said that "As a strategic move, it was smart; he got what he wanted without being seen as directly responsible for the result," and called the case "the most unusual marshaling of a grand jury's resources I've seen in my 25 years as a lawyer and scholar." [30]

The New Yorker's legal analyst, attorney Jeffrey Toobin, criticized McCulloch for implementing "a document dump, an approach that is virtually without precedent in the law of Missouri or anywhere else", [30] and stated that despite the effort to represent the process as "an independent evaluation of the evidence", McCulloch remained in control of the process. Toobin wrote that in the presentation of the grand jury decision, McCulloch cherry-picked the evidence that was most exculpatory of Wilson, and asserted that McCulloch "gave Wilson's case special treatment". [31]

Radio talk show host and attorney Michael Smerconish wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer that McCulloch was in a no-win position and gave the case to the grand jury, despite a lack of evidence, to prove probable cause because the public would not accept a unilateral decision by McCulloch. Smerconish said the grand jury proceedings were atypical because they presented all the evidence and included testimony by the subject of the investigation, Darren Wilson. [32] Smerconish said conflicting witness statements which could support indictments were not backed up by the forensic evidence. [33]

Former United States federal judge Paul G. Cassell, writing for the Volokh Conspiracy blog, said that "Contrary to the complaints of some critics, the grand jury process was clearly fair." [34] Cassell countered critics by saying that the grand jury did not deviate from the normal process, except for the prosecutor not making any particular recommendation for charges. Cassell said objections that the grand jury took too long were silent on the parallel federal investigation being run. The argument that too much evidence was presented in to the grand jury, compromising the process, was described by Cassell as an attempt to manufacture a weakness. [34]

Personal life

McCulloch is the son of a St. Louis City K-9 police officer who was killed in the line of duty while searching for a fleeing kidnapper in the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Complex when McCulloch was 12 years old. When he was in high school at Augustinian Academy, McCulloch lost a leg to cancer. [7]

McCulloch and his wife Carolyn have four children. [35]

His son, Matthew McCulloch, a St. Louis County police officer, is suspected of shooting into the air at a children's trunk or treat event on Sunday, October 16, 2023 in Kirkwood, Missouri. [36]

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References

  1. 1 2 "St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney". Stlouiscopa.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ "St. Louis County: Employees by Salary Range". Graphics.stltoday.com. May 20, 2017. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  3. ↑ Fenske, Sarah (August 7, 2018). "Wesley Bell Takes Down Bob McCulloch in Prosecutor's Race". Riverfront Times. Archived from the original on March 18, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Robles, Frances (August 20, 2014). "St. Louis County Prosecutor Defends Objectivity". New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Kimberly Kindy and Carol D. Leonnig (September 7, 2014). "In atypical approach, grand jury in Ferguson shooting receives full measure of case". Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Testimony of The Honorable Robert McCulloch" (PDF). September 17, 2003. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Nicholas J.C. Pistor and Joe Holleman (August 16, 2014). "St. Louis prosecutor has faced controversy for decades". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  8. ↑ Sorkin, Michael D. (August 17, 2014). "20,000 sign petitions seeking special prosecutor in Michael Brown shooting". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  9. ↑ Christine Byers and Steve Giegerich (October 10, 2013). "St. Louis County prosecutor pulls his support of Dooley in next election". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Stenger ousts Dooley in Democratic St. Louis County Executive primary". Fox 2 St Louis. August 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  11. ↑ "MetroLink Cracking Down on Those Who Ride in City Without Paying « CBS St. Louis". Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  12. ↑ Deere, Stephen (June 29, 2017). "Can MetroLink guards write tickets in St. Louis County or not?". stltoday.com.
  13. ↑ "Fearing for their safety, MetroLink riders want more security". KSDK. June 26, 2017.
  14. ↑ Moskop, Stephen Deere, Christine Byers, Walker (May 4, 2017). "As crime rises, MetroLink officers aren't writing tickets". stltoday.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ Messenger, Tony (July 24, 2017). "Messenger: Where are the St. Louis County cops on MetroLink? 'They are hiding somewhere.'". stltoday.com.
  16. ↑ Messenger, Tony (July 23, 2017). "Messenger: Caught on camera, St. Louis County cops cover their tracks". stltoday.com.
  17. ↑ Messenger, Tony (July 24, 2017). "Messenger: County seeks to remove accountability from Metro police contract". stltoday.com.
  18. ↑ Randhawa, PJ (August 23, 2018). "Woman accused cop of rape, but she's the one facing charges". KSDK. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  19. ↑ "When Prosecuting Attorneys Push Back, We Bring Out the Facts" (Press release). ACLU of Missouri. August 6, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  20. ↑ Wicentowksi, Danny (July 31, 2018). "ACLU Uses St. Louis County Data to Push Back on McCulloch Cash Bail Claims". Riverfront Times. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  21. ↑ Wicentowski, Danny (August 29, 2018). "When Bob McCulloch Addressed Oregon Prosecutors, a Bunch Walked Out". Riverfront Times. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  22. 1 2 Byers, Christine (September 16, 2014). "Grand jury now has until January to decide whether to charge Ferguson officer". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  23. ↑ "What Happened in Ferguson?". The New York Times. November 24, 2014. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  24. ↑ Kaplan, Rebecca; Face The Nation (August 17, 2014). "NAACP president: Special prosecutor "critically important" in Ferguson". CBS News. Archived from the original on August 18, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  25. ↑ Chuck, Elizabeth (August 21, 2014). "Petition Against Prosecutor in Ferguson Case Has 70,000 Signatures". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  26. ↑ Basu, Moni; Yan, Holly; Ford, Dana (November 25, 2014). "Fires, chaos erupt in Ferguson after grand jury doesn't indict in Michael Brown case". CNN. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Lawmaker Wants Investigation of St. Louis Prosecutor". ABC News / Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Bob McCulloch's pathetic prosecution of Darren Wilson". Washington Post. November 28, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  29. ↑ Citron, Eric (November 25, 2014). "Cases and controversies: Not your typical grand jury investigation". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  30. 1 2 Zucchino, David (November 25, 2014). "Prosecutor's grand jury strategy in Ferguson case adds to controversy". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  31. ↑ Toobin, Jeffrey. "How Not to Use a Grand Jury". The New Yorker . Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  32. ↑ Smerconish, Michael (December 16, 2014). "Smerconish: Ferguson grand jury got it right (Page 1)". Goupstate.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  33. ↑ Smerconish, Michael (December 16, 2014). "Smerconish: Ferguson grand jury got it right (Page 2)". Goupstate.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  34. 1 2 Cassell, Paul (November 25, 2014). "The Michael Brown grand jury process was fair". Washington Post. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  35. ↑ Paul Brown (April 19, 2012). "Persons of Interest: Bob McCulloch". Ladue News. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Man who fired shots at Kirkwood trunk-or-treat is St. Louis County cop, ex-prosecutor's son". October 16, 2023.
Bob McCulloch
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney
In office
January 1991 –January 1, 2019
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