Ferguson grand jury unusual in many ways

Not much is normal about the Missouri grand jury responsible for deciding whether to charge a suburban St. Louis police officer for fatally shooting Michael Brown.

Not the length of deliberations, not the manner in which it has heard evidence, not the way in which its work could be made public. Then again, the case itself is unusual.
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EXTRA TIME

At the time of Brown's shooting, a St. Louis County grand jury already had been hearing cases and was scheduled to disband Sept. 10. In one of the first indications that Brown's case would be different, a judge extended the jurors' service until January, the maximum amount of time allowed.

Whereas a typical case might be presented to a grand jury in a single day, this case has stretched over three months.

NO SPECIFIC CHARGE

It's fairly common in Missouri for a prosecutor to first file a complaint charging an individual with a crime, then go later to a grand jury asking it to indict the person for that offense. In this case, St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch hasn't publicly suggested any particular charge against Wilson.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8a4fc5fecb6c48549d8cae0e9e0d1c81/ferguson-grand-jury-unusual-many-ways