Radio Curious discusses the grand jury verdict to not indict a white police officer in the killing of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, with James A. Cohen, law professor at Fordham University Law School in New York City.
Barry Vogel, Attorney and Counselor, is the Host and Producer of Radio Curious. Christina Aanestad is the Assistant Producer.
We continue our look into the Ferguson, Missouri, investigation of the August 9, 2014, shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year old black man, shot three times in the head by the now former Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson.Â
The St. Louis County, Missouri, grand jury, convened by District Attorney and Prosecutor Robert McCulloch failed to return any criminal charges against Wilson. This occurred after three months of weekly grand jury meetings. Prosecutor Robert McCulloch gathered and organized the information and facts presented to the grand jury.Â
Our guest is Attorney and Law Professor James A. Cohen, who has tried over 100 criminal jury trials and teaches criminal law and related topics at Fordham University Law School in New York City. Â
Professor Cohen and I review the evidence, including Wilsonâs spoken testimony, the written police reports and medical reports presented to the grand jury, which is available, along with part one of this program, on the Radio Curious website, www.radiocurious.org.
In this second part of our visit with Professor Cohen we continue a review of Officer Wilsonâs testimony and the forensic evidence. We then examine the duties of a prosecutor before a grand jury; the potential for conflicts of interest; and the prosecutorâs ethical obligations.  Professor Cohen asserts that had a special prosecutor been appointed to present the evidence of the facts surrounding Officer Wilsonâs shooting of Brown, it is likely that a significantly different decision might have resulted from the grand juryâs deliberations.
In this program, recorded on December 5, 2014, we begin part two with Professor Cohenâs analysis of Officer Wilsonâs testimony about why he shot Michael Brown nine times, including three shots to the young man's head.
The books that Professor Cohen recommends are those written by Anders Ericsson:Â âThe Road To Excellence: The Acquisition of Expert Performance in the Arts and Sciences, Sports, and Gamesâ and âDevelopment of Professional Expertise: Toward Measurement of Expert Performance and Design of Optimal Learning Environments.â
Radio Curious is a half-hour, weekly, long-form interview program, now in it's 24th year. We interview people on a curiously wide variety of topics about life and ideas. Our website is www.radiocurious.org. If your station airs Radio Curious please let us know curious@radiocurious.org, we will add you to our list of syndicate stations. We also welcome questions, feedback and program ideas. Radio Curious 280 N. Oak St. Ukiah, Ca 95482. (707) 462-6541.
![<?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/rp-navimg.gif)
![Support the <?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/support.png)
