BREAKING: Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson negotiating to resign

[brooklynite]

CNN: Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson is in the final stages of negotiations with city officials to resign, according to people close to the talks.

Wilson is a white police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, a black teen, in Ferguson on August 9.
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Perhaps a deal to avoid indictment?

[elleng]

1. Very good news.

[oldandhappy]

2. first smart move on his side

[sabrina 1]

3. Good, he's a threat to the public obviously.

[kwassa]

4. Realistically, he can never go back to work there.

This is probably part of a no-charge deal.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

8. Yes to the first part of your comment. I don't know to the second, but maybe. nt

[morningfog]

14. There is no "deal" with a grand jury.

[kwassa]

17. There is if the prosecutor decides that there is.

A grand jury almost always does whatever a prosecutor wants it to.

This wouldn't be a public deal in the first place.

[morningfog]

21. Grand jury presentations are one-sided.

It is only the prosecutor seeking an indictment.

[Agnosticsherbet]

5. Letting him avoid an indictment by resigning will lead to one really pissed of public.

How many people who comit murder get to leave town rather than face trial.

[morningfog]

13. That isn't how it works. The OP is just wrong.

There is no such deal that can be made.

[kwassa]

18. Think of it as an understanding.

not a publicly negotiated plea deal.

[Wella]

6. He doesn't have much of a choice

If they put him out on the street again, the guy is toast.

[Calista241]

7. He can't exchange a resignation for a no bill grand jury.

It's a grand jury and independent from influence by city officials.

If this was the case, it'd be a corruption scandal that would put everything else to shame.

[kwassa]

19. the grand jury is not independent of the influence of the prosecutor.

a highly compromised individual in this case.

[cwydro]

9. Gonna retire rich.

Doesn't seem right somehow.

[True Blue Door]

10. Shouldn't have to go this far for a police officer with zero trust in the community

to be removed. I would urge residents of Ferguson to seek a regular process, in consultation with police unions (no use pitting labor unions against civil rights - that would just empower their mutual enemies) - for the community to vote No Confidence in a police officer.

A suitably high threshold for removal should assuage union fears of politicizing the force while still covering cases that would otherwise fester into general discontent.

[damnedifIknow]

11. Great news but where will he go now?

Coming to a department near you?

[morningfog]

12. How would that have any effect on the grand jury

proceedings?

[VScott]

15. By resigning, he most likely preserves his pension

[branford]

16. Any employment talks are unconnected to the grand jury.

There is no plea bargaining to avoid a grand jury indictment at this stage of the process. If he is indicted, a plea deal could possibly include an agreement to resign.

If there are actually resignation talks occurring, I surmise that all parties acknowledge that Wilson really cannot continue to be employed by the Ferguson PD, but due to union and related civil service protections, he cannot be involuntarily discharged. Again, if the story is true, Wilson and the town are likely just negotiating a generous severance package that will have absolutely no effect on any criminal or civil proceedings, state or federal, and will most assuredly be confidential.

[herding cats]

20. Makes one wonders how much money he's received in private donations so far?

Not to mention how much he'll get in the future. Strange isn't it the things that make one wealthy in this nation today?