St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch urged residents of Ferguson, Missouri, to react "in a constructive way and not in a destructive way" to the decision not to indict the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown.
Residents of the community are aware that the whole world is watching "how we react," McCulloch said Monday after announcing that officer Darren Wilson would not face state charges. A federal civil-rights investigation is still under way.
"No young man should ever die. This is a loss of a life, and it's a tragic loss regardless of the circumstances," McCulloch said. "But it's opened old wounds, and it's given us an opportunity now to address those wounds, as opposed to in the past where they just fade away."
He urged everyone to keep the conversation going in a constructive way that can be beneficial in changing how things are done.
He told reporters he is not allowed to know or say how grand jurors voted or anything about their deliberations. The 12-person grand jury needed nine votes for an indictment. Nine of the grand jurors were white and three were black. Seven were men and five were women.
Other breakdowns were not released, but McCulloch noted that judges typically look for grand juries that represent various ages and socioeconomic backgrounds, so that likely was the case with this grand jury.
McCulloch said he won't pursue perjury charges against witnesses who sincerely believed their testimony, even when it conflicted with physical evidence. But he was less clear about others who acknowledged making up parts of their testimony.
He defended his plan to release all of the evidence presented to the grand jury, saying that the state's "sunshine" laws allow for the secret testimony to be released once a case has been closed.
He said some black witnesses did testify that Brown was charging toward Wilson when he was shot. Other, conflicting testimony said that Brown, who was 18 and unarmed, was fleeing, or was facing Wilson in surrender.
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