The felony drug case that earned Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson a commendation earlier this year was thrown out of court on Monday because he was a no-show, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The case, involving a marijuana possession charge against Christopher A. Brooks, was on hold since September, when Wilson missed a preliminary hearing, the newspaper reported.
St. Louis County Associate Circuit Judge Mary Bruntrager Schroder reportedly gave prosecutors until Monday to get Wilson to testify before the grand jury. When he didn’t show, she dismissed the case.
The paper reported that a signed order said: “State not ready. Cause dismissed for failure to prosecute. State opposed.”
Wilson’s lawyers could not be reached for comment about his absence, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Wilson received a commendation for the Feb. 2013 arrest because of what was described as his “extraordinary effort in the line of duty.” The award was presented in front of Ferguson’s city council.
Wilson is the officer who allegedly shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown back in August in Ferguson, Mo. He is on paid administrative leave, per the paper.
“extraordinary effort in the line of duty.”
…but couldn’t put forth enough effort to show up in court.
There’s a non-trivial co-relation between dismissals for police officer witnesses failing to show up in court for evidence hearings and incidents of said police officers having breached the constitutional rights of persons facing the charges that are the subject of said hearings.
How extraordinary can it be for arresting someone on a damn pot possession charge? Oh wait, this is Ferguson, so maybe he was commended for not killing the suspect while attempting to make an arrest. Really though, how many other cases will now be disposed because this little chicken is afraid to do his job, which he is still being paid for while being on a two month long vacation, because he is afraid to show up in court?
I’m sorry – if Wilson is on paid administrative leave, but doing no actual work … then, on the one assignment he actually has to do, he doesn’t show up? Isn’t that grounds for terminating the paid portion of the leave, at the very least?
I agree, but in this case, everyone is bending over backwards for the officer. I strongly believe that he should get treated fairly no matter what, but I also believe the deck is well stacked in his favor. Given the DA’s personal and professional history, I can’t see even the slightest chance he’ll get indicted for anything. If he’s truly innocent of wrongdoing, this puts him in the unenviable position where no one will believe it because of the favoritism. He may have been better off with an independent prosecution where the public would agree with the result either way.