Nationally recognized criminal defense attorney Paul Cambria, a senior partner at the law firm Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria, was interviewed recently on WBEN on the November 24 grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson. Wilson was charged in the August 9 shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri. Click here for the interview.
In the interview, which was the second of two interviews WBEN conducted with Mr. Cambria on the topic of the grand jury’s decision (click here for the first interview), Mr. Cambria was asked if Wilson should talk publicly about the decision and what Wilson is likely to do next.
Mr. Cambria responded, “I think he is going to lay low for quite some time. He is going to be afraid for his own safety, I’m sure. There will be some day when he will speak.” He continued, “It seems to me that he’ll be off into oblivion somewhere . . . I’m sure his career as a police officer is over. If he has any sense, he’ll change has name and move to another community, because he will have a very tough time in his community.”
Asked if Wilson would be likely to sell his story to the highest-bidding media outlet, Mr. Cambria said, “He might have to avail himself of that just to survive, because he’s not going to be employed any time soon, that’s for sure.”
The grand jury, whose function was to make a preliminary decision about whether or not probable cause existed that a crime was committed by Wilson, was made up of 12 citizens, seven men and five women, nine of whom were white and three black.
Mr. Cambria, asked if the grand jury’s vote would be likely to be released, responded, “No, I don’t think they will ever release that.” He went on to note that the grand jury “only needed nine votes to make their verdict, and obviously it would be pretty ironic if just the nine whites voted [not to indict]. That would be a volatile statistic if it that ever leaked out.”
He went on to say, “I do think it will leak some time. Secrecy prevents the grand jurors from talking, but the witnesses can talk.”
Mr. Cambria was joined for the interview by Reverend Kinzer Pointer, pastor at the Agape Fellowship Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York.
Mr. Cambria is recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent attorneys. In addition to the areas of criminal trials and criminal appeals, he practices in the areas of Constitutional and First Amendment law, zoning and land use, antitrust, and professional licensing defense. He divides his time between Lipsitz Green’s Buffalo and Los Angeles offices.
