Ferguson: Documents In Grand Jury Testimony In The Darren Wilson Case

In announcing that the grand jury had failed to return an indictment against Police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, the St. Louis prosecutor said Monday night that he would release all the documents from the grand jury hearing. Prosecutor Robert McCulloch may have hoped that offering the transcripts from the hearing might help defuse the anger about the fact that officer Wilson would not face criminal charges for killing unarmed teenager Brown in August.

The town had seen protests during the summer while residents awaited the grand jury announcement, and although President Barack Obama, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Michael Brown's own parents pleaded for calm, in the hours after McCulloch spoke, the streets erupted with protests. Some cars and stores were vandalized -- though many protesters tried to protect local businesses -- and police fired tear gas and bean bags in order to disburse the crowd.

"Eyewitness accounts must always be challenged against the physical evidence," McCulloch said, and elaborated on the evidence examined by the grand jury.

"There was a full investigation of all evidence," he said, adding: "The duty of the jury is to separate fact from fiction."

McCulloch also noted that the jurors, after an in-depth review, had found no evidence to return an indictment against Wilson.

You can read the full text of the grand jury proceedings here.