I realize cops, on occasion, have legitimate reasons they can't make a court date. But Darren Wilson? It's not like he's actively engaged in any crime fighting. Something weird is going on.
Recently, a St Louis County judge dismissed a felony marijuana possession charge against 28-year-old Christopher A Brooks. What makes this notable is the judge had agreed to put the case on hold after officer Darren Wilson missed a preliminary hearing in September. This is on top of the fact Wilson also failed to appear before a grand jury in the Brooks case. What makes that notable is the grand jury appearance was an alternative that associate circuit judge Mary Bruntrager Schroder signed off on at the previous hearing Wilson missed.
In other words, the court is going out of its way to make it easy for Wilson to do his job. And he is blowing them off. This case is particularly notable because this is the case that earned him a commendation.
But that's not the end of it.
This is the sixth case to be dropped due to Wilson's failure to appear.
It was the sixth low-level drug case connected to Wilson to be dropped in recent weeks, according to information from Ed Magee, spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch.
Some might suggest he isn't appearing out of fear for his safety. That strikes me as comical. Every day all across the country, people testify against drug dealers. You think any of them are safe? Many of the people testifying are already incarcerated. You think they are safe? Confidential informants are called to testify in front of grand juries all the time. You think the police can't provide adequate security for these people? How hard is it to transport someone in to and out of a court house without going through the front door?
You can bet the DA's office is none too happy about dropping these cases. The judge's order Monday says simply,
“State not ready. Cause dismissed for failure to prosecute. State opposed.”
That's pretty clearly a slap at the prosecution.
The fact that the guy isn't even showing up to grand jury hearings is a bit odd. After all, he made it to the one investigating his shooting. What I don't get is how even when the court bends over backwards to accommodate him, he still blows them off. Maybe it's the fear of being charged with excessive force. Especially, now that a new video has surfaced showing him illegally arresting someone for filming him. The guy in that case eventually had the charges dropped. Lucky for him he recorded the confrontation.
I wonder how many more cases are in the pipeline with Wilson as a witness or arresting officer.
10:25 AM PT: Nice to have some real lawyers around. As I understand the comments, Wilson would be advised by his attorneys not to testify on anything that could be used against him in a criminal trial; it doesn't matter if it is related to the cases where he is a witness or not.
This raises an interesting issue -- if any cop has to defend themself against charges of misconduct, that could easily compromise everything in the pipeline. I see why the DA is so protective of cops now. Many cases would likely fall apart if arresting officers can't appear in court.