So Why Wasn’t Officer Wilson Arrested? Plus Answers to Other Questions About the Law
Some legal analysis from St Louis Public Radio.
Ferguson protesters insisted at a raucous meeting on Saturday that Gov. Jay Nixon act quickly to charge Ferguson officer Darren Wilson with murder in the shooting death of Michael Brown.
As straightforward as that sounds, Nixon can’t do it. The governor does not have the power to charge a person - any person - with a crime. “All” power to charge a person with a crime resides under state law with the prosecuting attorney, in this case St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch.
In the context of the Brown shooting, this may seem unfair to protesters. But there is reason behind it: People wouldn’t want the governor to have the power to put people in jail.
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