We Wait....

I clearly don't have enough knowledge about our judicial system.  Most of what I know is from Perry Mason and Law And Order.  Having made every wrong decision in the Ferguson case, we in NYC are waiting for our own decision in the Eric Garner case against the NYPD.  Hoping against all hope that no matter the decision, there will be peaceful protests only.  

Are Grand Juries used when you're not sure there's enough evidence to press charges?  Not every indictment goes through a Grand Jury, right?  In the Mike Brown murder, there seemed to be plenty of evidence to take it to a public trial, but the jurors decided there wasn't.  In the Eric Garner case, the police tried to question a large black man thinking he might be selling cigarettes illegally on the street (which I'm not sure there was any evidence of that ever), he resisted, and about 8 cops tackled him to the ground, one cop put an illegal choke hold on him and, as everyone heard, he said he couldn't breathe and he died on the street.  There is vivid video of this altercation and death that has been seen millions of time.  The Medical Examiner of NYC declared the death was homicide.  So what's the issue?  I'm not being flip, but if homicide is the determined death, someone has to be responsible, right?  

So, here we wait.  For some reason, we are not getting the national attention, which may be a good thing for the city.  Every New Yorker knows this story.  Every New Yorker has seen the video.  It's unfathomable to me that the Grand Jury wouldn't vote to indict, but clearly, I don't get the system.  I think every crime should have its day in court, unless both sides voluntarily can plea it out.  Every victim's family should get to have the chance to hear what happened to their loved one.  Let's throw out all the superfluous lawsuits and keep the courts open for real crimes, there are plenty of those.  

We wait for news.  There will be no National Special Bulletin interrupting your TV shows.  Local news will interrupt, because they interrupt for just about anything.  I really can't believe that the outcome will be the same as it was in Ferguson.  I can't believe it, but my Pollyanna glasses are getting cloudier. 

And so we wait....