Should Saint Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch head the investigation of Michael Brown\’s shooting death” Or should he recuse himself – and, if so, why?
First I\’ll put up both sides, and then I\’ll tell you where I stand.
Reasons for recusing:
-McCulloch comes from a family with a good number of members in the police force: his father, brother, nephew and cousin all were on the force and his mother worked there in a clerical capacity. As such, he might be prejudiced in favor of Officer Darren Wilson.
-McCulloch\’s father was a police officer who, 50 years ago, was shot to death in the line of duty by a Black suspect. As such, he might be prejudiced against Black people in general, and, more specifically, against Black men like Michael Brown.
-In 2000, McCulloch publicly agreed with a county grand jury\’s decision not to prosecute two White police officers who, while working undercover in a drug operation, shot and killed two unarmed Black men. The grand jury – and McCulloch – agreed that, the officers\’ lives were in danger when they opened fire.
-Shortly after the Brown shooting, McCulloch ok\’ed the release of a surveillance tape which apparently shows Brown, (with his friend Dorian Johnson) robbing a store of about $50 worth of cigars, then physically pushing off the owner of the store who came over, presumably to get payment for his merchandise. The argument is that this was an unnecessary slurring of Brown\’s reputation (the other side being that it was nothing other than a visual demonstration of who/what Brown was – and, in any case, several news organizations said they would immediately invoke the Freedom Of Information Act to get it).
Reasons for not recusing:
-McCulloch has been the Saint Louis County Prosecuting Attorney for 23 years, and been elected four times to that position. As recently as August 5th of this year – four days before Michael Brown was shot to death – McCulloch, who is a Democrat, won his primary over a Black opponent, Leslie Broadnax, by 71% – 29% (though most Black voters cast their ballots for Ms. Broadnax);
-Other than the 2000 incident, I have not come across any other similarly controversial positions McCulloch has taken which seem to favor White police over Black suspects/perps (this is not to say there have been no such cases, only that I can\’t find any where his performance generated significant controversy).
-If Mr. McCulloch does recuse himself, it will appear to affirm the accusations made against him that he could not prosecute Officer Wilson objectively – i.e. it comes across as a concession that he would not/could not be fair.
My conclusion, for whatever it is worth? In looking at the totality of the picture, I think that, regardless of whether Mr. McCulloch is capable of handling this case fairly, his family\’s police background, the way his father died and the controversy surrounding his position in the 2000 drug case, create too much of an appearance that he might be prejudiced for him to perform as the prosecuting attorney.
He should identify the most senior person in his office who has a more neutral background, and put him/her in charge.
This is not to accuse Mr. McCulloch of being prejudiced. I don\’t know very much about him and have no opinion of his integrity one way or the other. My conclusion is based on (sorry for the buzzword, but it really does fit here) the “optics” of a man whose entire life has been so completely tied to the police force, handling this highly controversial police-involved matter.
Do I think that Mr. McCulloch must recuse himself from all other cases involving police officers as well? No I do not. But the circumstances of this specific case put it in a different league than the others:
-What if Officer Wilson is exonerated? McCulloch will be condemned as a White cop lover with a 50 year old grudge, who got a guilty White cop off because the guy he shot down in cold blood was Black.
-What if Officer Wilson is convicted? McCulloch will be condemned as a weak willie, scared into submission by the sharptons and jacksons of the world, who let an innocent White cop take the fall rather than standing up for what was right.
Which outcome is the good one?
Of course, Governor Jay Nixon can end this issue any time he cares to, by either removing McCulloch from the case – which, from what I have read, he can do at will – or standing up for him, insisting that this is his job, and that he will stay on it regardless of what anyone else says.
But that is not happening – at least not up to the time I write this. So, far Governor Nixon, again showing that when it comes to the Michael Brown case he is incapable of making a firm decision in any direction, has wimped out by saying it is up to McCulloch himself – in other words, “I\’m not doing anything at all, so whatever happens is someone else\’s fault”.
I can\’t help thinking Missouri deserves a lot better.
