A grand juror on the Michael Brown case is ready to speak their peace. The person, referred to as “Grand Juror Joe” in court papers, filed a lawsuit against St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch Monday (Jan. 5) in order to break a court mandated gag order.
Reports USA Today:
The federal suit filed on Monday names St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch as the defendant, because he would be the person to bring charges against a grand jury member who violated the gag order. The plaintiff, who is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, is identified in the lawsuit as “Grand Juror Doe.”
The grand juror would like to talk about the experience of serving on the panel, which declined to indict former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the death of Brown, to contribute to the ongoing national conversation on race relations, according to the ACLU.
It is a crime, however, for members of a grand jury to speak out without permission from a court.
“The Supreme Court has said that grand jury secrecy must be weighed against the juror’s First Amendment rights on a case-by-case basis,” Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri, said in a statement. “The rules of secrecy must yield because this is a highly unusual circumstance. The First Amendment prevents the state from imposing a lifetime gag order in cases where the prosecuting attorney has purported to be transparent.”
Former Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown last August. The grand jury voted against indictment in November, triggering a string of protest in the city and across the nation. McCulloch has come under suspicion for his alleged ties to an organization that offered support to Wilson, and other officers.
In addition, one of the witnesses in the case was exposed for lying under oath. McCulloch later said in a interview that he was aware that the testimony was untrue.
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