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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums‘Fanciful and not credible’: CNN legal analyst destroys Darren Wilson’s testimony
NN legal analyst Sunny Hostin ripped St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch for asking Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson “softball” questions during the cross examination of his testimony, which she called “fanciful and not credible.”
On Monday, McCulloch had released all of the evidence provided to the grand jury that eventually decided not to indict Wilson for shooting unarmed teen Michael Brown. The evidence included Wilson’s testimony to the grand jury that Brown looked “like a demon, that’s how angry he looked.”
“When I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan,” Wilson said. “That’s just how big he felt and how small I felt just from grasping his arm.”
But Hostin said the claim that Brown attacked Wilson inside of the police car, and tried to fire his service weapon did not make sense to her.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/fanciful-and-not-credible-cnn-legal-analyst-destroys-darren-wilsons-testimony/
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Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)Heck the whole state looks like something I would expect in 1875, not in contemporary society at all.
Niko
(97 posts)If there's anything less credible than Darren Wilson's testimony, it's anything Sunny Hostin has to say about any subject whatsoever. She's an idiot.
Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)Niko
(97 posts)Come on.
We go on about how horrible the mainstream media, especially CNN, is all the time. Sunny Hostin is maybe almost as dumb as Wolf Blitzer, and that's pretty dumb. Just because they're saying something you agree with this time doesn't change things. They've been hyping this up for months now and they're loving the ratings. I prefer to stick to facts.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"I prefer to stick to facts..."
Except for the pejoratives used against news hosts with whom you disagree, the "hyping" and "ratings" comment, etc... 
(insert rationalization of subjectivity below to validate your bias as something other than what it indeed, is)
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)so much for your outrage.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)as is his testimony.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)I just find your criticism at this time convenient.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)
freshwest
(53,661 posts)I think that statement was very carefully worded, but then you're a legal person.
I had an attorney who worked with me some years ago and I wanted him to speak plainly. He told me that he got a lot done 'by wheedling.'
He was right, restraint while firing the right words does work well, especially when directed at wordsmiths for profit and careerists.
We made a big difference with that case but our commentary out of hearing was at times hilarious, at other times quite bitter at the games being played with those who needed help.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Elizabeth Warren worked for a law firm that specialized in CDOs and I once worked for a very sketchy bar, where unlawful activity may, or may not, have been going on in 10 of the 12 back rooms.
Who someone works/worked for is not a political or character statement.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Just from my experience any "experts" on bildo's show are usually fucking morons-
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)who has also appeared on the O'reilly Factor as an expert commentator?
snooper2
(30,151 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)but what does megan Kelley have to do with this, I thought we were talking about Sunny.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)I wouldn't call Snoop an idiot at all and he has been on O'Dildo's show just like Bill Maher has
Niko
(97 posts)Frankly, I'm shocked that she was ever even a prosecutor. She can't form a coherent argument if her life depended on it. Maybe you agree with her right now, but she's not exactly one to use facts, logic, or reason to make a case.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)her legal background seems to argue against your assessment.
cali
(114,904 posts)
UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)the more I begin to wonder what in fuck's name the grand jury was thinking, and why McCullough made it a point in a press conference to illustrate why he found eyewitness testimony inconsistent and unreliable...
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Honestly.
A prosecutor in front of a grand jury, presents his best evidence and his best witnesses. He makes a solid case for probably cause to get an indictment.
Then he gives all the evidence, including the bad witnesses, and he let's the defense attorney develop his own case. That attorney does everything he can to muddy the prosecution's case, mix it up, point out inconsistencies, and create doubt.
Its clear McCullough did what he could to create doubt right in front of the grand jury. He put out all the evidence, made sure the inconsistencies were obvious, and then presented no case.
Instead, he then let Wilson tell his own story, make HIS case as to what actually happened. After which McCullough basically shrugged and said "ok, I don't know what happened here, I have no idea ... you guys decide."
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)used selective pro-Wilson leaks to taint any potential jury pool. Hell, I'll bet McCulloch himself was the leaker. Means, motive and opportunity . . . AND AMBITION.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)
H2O Man
(73,559 posts)She is one of the legal experts on television with common sense and the ability to "translate" even the most complex issues of law to ordinary folks. In my opinion, she is one of the most impressive individuals out there. I always respect her opinion, even those few times when I might disagree with her.
Thank you for posting this. It is important.
JCMach1
(27,559 posts)(which could have been blood, or tissue) been on the officer's gun if he had tried to grab it?
sunnystarr
(2,638 posts)when Brown's hand touched it or touched him - like if he was pushing it away in a struggle. More importantly it was stated that Brown scratched Wilson but autopsies confirmed that there was nothing of Wilson's dna under Brown's fingernails.
cstanleytech
(26,294 posts)JCMach1
(27,559 posts)
ellie
(6,929 posts)THE NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION RESPONDS TO THE GRAND JURY’S DECISION NOT TO INDICT POLICE OFFICER DARREN WILSON IN THE SHOOTING DEATH OF MICHAEL BROWN
WASHINGTON, DC – The National Bar Association is questioning how the Grand Jury, considering the evidence before them, could reach the conclusion that Darren Wilson should not be indicted and tried for the shooting death of Michael Brown. National Bar Association President Pamela J. Meanes expresses her sincere disappointment with the outcome of the Grand Jury’s decision but has made it abundantly clear that the National Bar Association stands firm and will be calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue federal charges against officer Darren Wilson. “We will not rest until Michael Brown and his family has justice” states Pamela Meanes, President of the National Bar Association.
<snip>
jwirr
(39,215 posts)helpless why didn't he just let go and drive away? He was in the car. It is not as if Michael Brown was some hardened criminal that had to be apprehended immediately. He was an unarmed kid who may have stolen some cigarillos.
Also in case the officer thinks those of us who have large brothers, uncles and fathers think his description of Michael is something reasonable he needs to think again. Almost all of the men in my family are over 6 feet tall and several are over 6 feet 6 inches. They are all big and muscular. They are not demons, giants, hulks or any other thing than men.
BobbyBoring
(1,965 posts)Those are key words that suggest Wilson was the aggressor. The guy with MB said Wilson grabbed him and tried to pull him in to the car.
A few words of truth perhaps?
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Because they are trained to be like police dogs and not let go, is my only explanation. I've heard cops say that they are the sheep dogs guarding the flock from the wolves who would tear them to pieces and eat them.
They say they cannot think or react the same as those they are protecting. That is, the naive civilians who get to live their own lives and not think about what cops see every day. Think what they see everyday. It's awful. What some of them do awful is a small slice of that nasty pizza.
I have considered this concept, and still am puzzled, but then, I have not been in the military, but they seem to be trained to think that way, too.
It is interesting to see the range of opinion on DU, which some days reads like 'Kill the Pigs!' as many said back in the sixties, to 'Damn, kill that animal!' depending on the story.
LEO's are hated as a class of people in the former,but not given credit for the stopping the latter, as it was a given that someone must confront those who would harm the flock. But we don't want vigilantes or a RW militia to tstep forward to take these guys out, do we?
So what is the proper function of law enforcement and government when our fellow citizens would harm us? Should we be armed to the teeth as some Americans have been saying, always ready to kill or be killed, like some wild west show? Or do we participate, take charge, get involved in watch groups and visit community police stations to ask questions and get a human face on either side of the divide between the sheepdog and the flock, if one wants to go with that analogy?
None of this answers the long history of law enforcement and the military to do evil to the citizenry, especially those of color, and this is what MUST be eliminated. The DOJ has taken an unprecedented number, since the seventies, of control of local police departments who are violating rights in a number of states.
No matter how much the locals hate it, they have to accept them looking over their shoulders and judging all their actions. It has made a difference and I hope that the end result of this will that they take control and then supervise the Ferguson PD for years. They need to cleanse house there.
Obama and Holder speak of 'best practices.' That's not callous rhetoric but a warning of what is coming to Ferguson, or so I hope. That is what the Brown family has asked to have happen. In their statement, they didn't want the police to disappear, but they wanted change them from the top down.
And the statement about Brown's size and demeanour was straight out the Trayvon Martin playbook to get the wrongdoer out of trouble. It did work for Z, but that trial was the most corrupt and nauseating thing I'd seen in my life as media covered it so much and they did a horrible racist job of promoting Z. It was filthy, and we saw it all.
We didn't see Wilson but only have statements made to go by and nothing of his face or behavior to judge his truth or not. I still can't forget the video of Z laughing in the courtroom. What a crime that trial was, in and of itself.
JMHO.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)We do not think in terms of apprehending and holding a prisoner. We would much rather be able to find a way to help in any other way.
I am also not anti-police - my grandfather was a small town policeman back when they really wanted to serve and protect. The kids in the community loved him because he cared about them. As a young teen I met many of those young men who would say, "So you are Herbs granddaughter." They protected me for him.
Times have changed. I like you hope that The Feds can replace that police department from top to bottom and I would like to know that each new policeman hired would have a small part of my grandfather in him. It would make their community a whole new world.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)This is a heavy burden, and it causes problems for them and us.
Because if a person is in the act of raping, beating, killing a person with brute force, they cannot be talked to about it. If they are a child molestor or some other type of abuser, they will lie, threaten the vulnerable who cannot defend themselves, and you cannot talk them out of it. They have chosen to make deception and overpowering the weak their method. They cannot be reasoned out of it.
In cases that would be called caught red handed in the act, is where force of some kind must be applied, or they will finish what they planned or they will do it again. I find my area, where the schools teach peaceful conflict resolution from elementary school on, and with zero tolerance for bullying and negative actions, this is uncommon. We are liberal in matters of drug use and the sex trade, unless part of human trafficking, mainly with minors. Then there will be an arrest made.
We also have our own version of anti-government and or anti-social behaviors where someone plans a massacre, and that is dealt with by stealth by law enforcement and very effective, but at times it requires the use of force. Most of the people I know support strong gun control and do not own a gun. Because we do expect trained people to show up in extreme situations, but the social fabric here is so strong, that most cases are solved by a person who has done things wrong convinced by family or friends to turn themselves in or else are turned by them. Violent crimes are usually solved quickly, although we certainly have not always had that to be the case.
We have the death penalty on the books, but it is not meted out here because the law here emphasizes clearing up cases and not making a spectacle of death to satisfy people, even if the families of the murdered may want it. We have a system of mitigation for those mentally ill or otherwise incompetent under the law, who would in other places would be considered criminals, when they are incapable by nature of their severe disablities to be rehabilitated and do not deserve to be further made ill or damaged by being in jail or prison.
We do, like every state, though, have notable failures in each category, but the consensus is that they should be sent to get care for however long it takes to get them better.
However, the case of Ferguson has long been tolerated and covered up, and appears to be a racial matter, and their leadership with the exception of persons like Alderman French and a few others, seems to be ignoring the larger issues of continuing abuse of the black community by LEOs there. I grew up in such a town, where it was considered 'normal' and it was a sad fact of life until the voters took over the city, instituted a true civilian review board that went what was for many years a large, brutal, racist police department.
Obama spoke about the acceptance of this state of affairs announcing his
'Brother's Keeper' project, that it should never have been 'normal' nor should it have been tolerated. As it simply denies an entire segment of society rights guaranteed by the Constitution (mainly the 14A) and is for that reason, anti-American and must end NOW. We will see if this will change things in Ferguson. A DUer from the region told me that the local elections in that city are put off until February instead of being in November like most areas have their elections, to ensure the maximum number of people can express their will at the ballot box. I'm hoping that February will be a day of reckoning for those who have permitted this state of affairs to go on so long.
Thanks for the chat and the story of your grandfather. None of my family has been in law enforcement or worked for the government, but some have been in the military in war time, but not as a career. So my mindset is definitely that of a civilian who is not faced with LEOs or any other public employees are daily.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)there are a lot of so called progressives and liberals willing to give mcolic and wilson a pass, just like the G J. Is this because Wilson said a demon was going to attack him that's why he shot Michael Brown 11 times?