Tuesday afternoon on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Tapper asked former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani whether he had ever prosecuted a case like the one in Ferguson during his time as a federal prosecutor.
“It’s unusual, the grand jury situation in this case, it was unusual that the prosecutor didn’t build a case the way it’s usually done,” Tapper began. “He presented all of the evidence and let the grand jury decide as opposed to making a suggestion and a recommendation.”
“When you were a U.S. attorney, did you ever present a case like that?” Tapper asked.
“Unusual, but not unique,” Giuliani explained. “This is a situation in which I don’t think the prosecutor knew himself what the right answer was, se he presented it to a grand jury. And when you read the testimony, I have to admit I haven’t read all of it, I’ve read about 200 pages… there’s no question that they couldn’t indict.”
“Even the description you just heard, that there were many conflicting stories. Many conflicting stories means you couldn’t possibly prove this case. When there’s conflict, you can’t prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and this grand jury came to the conclusion that there wasn’t even probable cause to believe he committed a crime.”
“If you have to read just one thing, read the interview of witness number 10. His testimony completely, 100 percent corroborates everything the police officer said. And he said the reason he came forward was because he was so upset that people were lying about the fact that Mr. Brown had put his hands up, because that never happened. And of course, at least four people perjured themselves about Mr. Brown being shot in the back. Do you know how powerful that testimony would be at a trial?”
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter @NussBB
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