Ferguson officer's lawyer, union official, say story on grand jury confidence was misleading

ST. LOUIS • An attorney for Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson and a St. Louis police union official both disavowed an Associated Press story today that claimed Wilson and his lawyers were confident that he will not be indicted.

The story quoted Jeff Roorda, business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers' Association, as reporting after a meeting with Wilson and the legal team, "It's fair to say that neither he nor his defense team expect an indictment." The AP story later added the words, "offering his impression of the situation based on the meeting with Wilson."

Roorda claims he never intended to speak for anyone but himself and asked the AP to clarify that.

Neil Bruntrager, one of Wilson's lawyers, said they never discussed their impressions of the impending grand jury decision. In fact, Bruntrager said the meeting with Roorda included discussions about making arrangements to post bail should Wilson be charged in the Aug. 9 killing of Michael Brown.

Bruntrager said no one but Wilson's legal team, which also includes James Towey and Greg Kloeppel, is authorized to speak on Wilson's behalf. Bruntrager said he was present for the meeting and that no such comments were made.

"If I was so confident, why would I be making those (bail) arrangements?" Bruntrager asked. "My client never said that and would never say that because ... our only expectation that we would have is that they (the grand jurors) be thorough. Period. End of story."

In an interview later, Roorda emphasized himself in saying, "I don't believe there will be an indictment." He said the lawyers "seem to be confident that justice will be served and that they had the appearance of confidence in the system.

The Associated Press "mistook what I said ... At no time did I say they don't expect an indictment or that they are confident in what the outcome of the grand jury would be, it's just that they seemed confident in the system."

Roorda and Bruntrager would not reveal the location of their meeting.

Bruntrager, who was highly upset, said he didn't believe Roorda would intentionally misrepresent anything, and that he had not yet spoken to him about it.

"We are focused on the grand jury at this point, and let's keep our focus there," he said. "It's been a very long process, and I trust the process and I trust that the grand jury will do right thing. At this point, we're leaving it in their hands, and God's."


http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ferguson-officer-s-lawyer-union-official-say-story-on-confidence/article_214c7eee-5729-5b2a-bf1c-a16a0f17cb68.html