Benjamin Atkins
2014-12-20 20:30:58 UTC
St Louis county prosecutor Robert McCulloch says he believes some
witnesses were not telling the truth when presenting evidence in the grand
jury case of officer Darren Wilson
Some witnesses who appeared before the grand jury investigating the death
of 18-year-old Michael Brown were clearly not telling the truth,
according to the St Louis county prosecutor, Robert McCulloch.
In his first public interview since announcing the grand jurys decision
not to indict officer Darren Wilson, McCulloch told local radio station
KTRS that he had decided to put witnesses forward to testify regardless of
their credibility.
Early on, I decided that anyone who claimed to have witnessed anything
would be presented to the grand jury, he said.
I knew somebody would be critical of whatever I did, he said. I thought
it was important to present anybody and everybody, and some that were,
yes, clearly not telling the truth, no question about it.
The admission came just days after The Smoking Gun, an investigative site
which publishes government, police and other documents, claimed to have
identified a key grand jury witness and raised serious questions about the
credibility of her testimony.
Witness 40, The Smoking Gun said, was Sandra McElroy, a 45-year-old St
Louis resident who has a criminal record and a history of using racial
epithets in online posts.
The site said it found her by using certain details in the unredacted
portion of the grand jury transcript Witness 40s age, her home town,
the fact that she was adopted, her two arrests for cheque fraud in 2007
and checked them against public records and social media accounts.
In an update to its story, The Smoking Gun said on Tuesday that McElroy
had confirmed her identity as Witness 40 and was speaking to a lawyer.
The Smoking Gun also reported that McElroy came forward as a witness in
another high-profile criminal case in 2007 with a story that authorities
later dismissed as a complete fabrication.
In her grand jury testimony, Witness 40 described in detail how Michael
Brown bent down in a football position and charged at officer Darren
Wilson an account often quoted in discussion of the case by rightwing
commentators such as Fox Newss Sean Hannity.
It was noted in her testimony to the grand jury that Witness 40 was not
taking medication for bipolar disorder, and that she had memory problems
after being injured in a 2001 car crash. The witness waited until after
Wilsons account of events was in the public domain, four weeks after the
shooting, before coming to police with a story which directly corroborated
his version of events.
The Smoking Gun also highlighted how Witness 40 gave the grand jury
several different explanations for her presence in Ferguson on the day
Brown was killed and that she admitted that her first version of the
story was untrue.
McCulloch, in his interview, appeared to corroborate The Smoking Guns
investigation of McElroy. Some of the media is doing exactly what I said
they would do, he said. They pull out one witness and just latch on to
that.
This is a lady who clearly wasnt present when this occurred, and she
recounted this statement that was right out of the newspaper about
Wilsons actions, right down the line, said McCulloch, even though Im
sure she was nowhere near the place.
The thing that changed in her story several times was the reason she had
to be in Canfield that day, he continued.
The Smoking Gun alleged that McElroys testimony to the grand jury was
also fabricated. I believe there is a clear preponderance of evidence,
William Bastone, the editor of The Smoking Gun, told the Guardian. Wed
never have posted a story accusing her of perjury and identifying her
if we werent 100% certain.
This, too, appeared to be corroborated by McCulloch. There are people who
came in and, yes, absolutely lied under oath. Some lied to the FBI even
though they arent under oath, thats another potential federal offence.
He added that he had allowed them to testify anyway because he had felt
it was much more important to present the entire picture.
He said his department was not planning to pursue perjury charges.
The Smoking Gun reported that McElroy often posted online about the case
after Michael Browns shooting, but before Witness 40 went to the police
with her story. In one reply to a post on Facebook about the case, McElroy
said, The report and autopsy are in so YES they were false.
McElroy also reportedly regularly posted racial slurs about Brown in
particular, and black people in general.
The Smoking Gun also reported that McElroy had previously been accused of
lying about her involvement with a high-profile kidnapping case in St
Louis. In that case, McElroy gave statements to the police in which she
said that she had seen kidnapper Michael Devlin with victim Shawn Hornbeck
months after his disappearance, and that she had known Devlin for 20
years. Police later declared those statements to be a complete
fabrication.
Emails sent to several addresses believed to be connected to McElroy this
week were not returned. On Wednesday, McElroy told the St Louis Post-
Dispatch that she stood by her original story, and that she regretted ever
coming forward. McCulloch was not available for comment on Friday.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/19/ferguson-prosecutor-
witnesses-darren-wilson-michael-brown
witnesses were not telling the truth when presenting evidence in the grand
jury case of officer Darren Wilson
Some witnesses who appeared before the grand jury investigating the death
of 18-year-old Michael Brown were clearly not telling the truth,
according to the St Louis county prosecutor, Robert McCulloch.
In his first public interview since announcing the grand jurys decision
not to indict officer Darren Wilson, McCulloch told local radio station
KTRS that he had decided to put witnesses forward to testify regardless of
their credibility.
Early on, I decided that anyone who claimed to have witnessed anything
would be presented to the grand jury, he said.
I knew somebody would be critical of whatever I did, he said. I thought
it was important to present anybody and everybody, and some that were,
yes, clearly not telling the truth, no question about it.
The admission came just days after The Smoking Gun, an investigative site
which publishes government, police and other documents, claimed to have
identified a key grand jury witness and raised serious questions about the
credibility of her testimony.
Witness 40, The Smoking Gun said, was Sandra McElroy, a 45-year-old St
Louis resident who has a criminal record and a history of using racial
epithets in online posts.
The site said it found her by using certain details in the unredacted
portion of the grand jury transcript Witness 40s age, her home town,
the fact that she was adopted, her two arrests for cheque fraud in 2007
and checked them against public records and social media accounts.
In an update to its story, The Smoking Gun said on Tuesday that McElroy
had confirmed her identity as Witness 40 and was speaking to a lawyer.
The Smoking Gun also reported that McElroy came forward as a witness in
another high-profile criminal case in 2007 with a story that authorities
later dismissed as a complete fabrication.
In her grand jury testimony, Witness 40 described in detail how Michael
Brown bent down in a football position and charged at officer Darren
Wilson an account often quoted in discussion of the case by rightwing
commentators such as Fox Newss Sean Hannity.
It was noted in her testimony to the grand jury that Witness 40 was not
taking medication for bipolar disorder, and that she had memory problems
after being injured in a 2001 car crash. The witness waited until after
Wilsons account of events was in the public domain, four weeks after the
shooting, before coming to police with a story which directly corroborated
his version of events.
The Smoking Gun also highlighted how Witness 40 gave the grand jury
several different explanations for her presence in Ferguson on the day
Brown was killed and that she admitted that her first version of the
story was untrue.
McCulloch, in his interview, appeared to corroborate The Smoking Guns
investigation of McElroy. Some of the media is doing exactly what I said
they would do, he said. They pull out one witness and just latch on to
that.
This is a lady who clearly wasnt present when this occurred, and she
recounted this statement that was right out of the newspaper about
Wilsons actions, right down the line, said McCulloch, even though Im
sure she was nowhere near the place.
The thing that changed in her story several times was the reason she had
to be in Canfield that day, he continued.
The Smoking Gun alleged that McElroys testimony to the grand jury was
also fabricated. I believe there is a clear preponderance of evidence,
William Bastone, the editor of The Smoking Gun, told the Guardian. Wed
never have posted a story accusing her of perjury and identifying her
if we werent 100% certain.
This, too, appeared to be corroborated by McCulloch. There are people who
came in and, yes, absolutely lied under oath. Some lied to the FBI even
though they arent under oath, thats another potential federal offence.
He added that he had allowed them to testify anyway because he had felt
it was much more important to present the entire picture.
He said his department was not planning to pursue perjury charges.
The Smoking Gun reported that McElroy often posted online about the case
after Michael Browns shooting, but before Witness 40 went to the police
with her story. In one reply to a post on Facebook about the case, McElroy
said, The report and autopsy are in so YES they were false.
McElroy also reportedly regularly posted racial slurs about Brown in
particular, and black people in general.
The Smoking Gun also reported that McElroy had previously been accused of
lying about her involvement with a high-profile kidnapping case in St
Louis. In that case, McElroy gave statements to the police in which she
said that she had seen kidnapper Michael Devlin with victim Shawn Hornbeck
months after his disappearance, and that she had known Devlin for 20
years. Police later declared those statements to be a complete
fabrication.
Emails sent to several addresses believed to be connected to McElroy this
week were not returned. On Wednesday, McElroy told the St Louis Post-
Dispatch that she stood by her original story, and that she regretted ever
coming forward. McCulloch was not available for comment on Friday.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/19/ferguson-prosecutor-
witnesses-darren-wilson-michael-brown