Strike one in the case against Cynthia McKinney

Well, a federal grand jury has decided to not indict Congresswoman Cynthia “do you know who I am?” McKinney for striking a Capitol police officer for the effrontery of doing his job. Apparently they looked at all the evidence — including McKinney’s own admission that she hit him — and didn’t see an indictable offense there.

Fortunately, this might not be the end of the story.

Under the Tom DeLay precedent, prosecutors can assemble a second grand jury and see if they can be persuaded that a crime actually occurred. (I realize the evidence is flimsy. All we have is a cop saying she hit me, she says she hit him, witnesses say it happened, and apparently there’s also corrororating video.) And if that grand jury screws up and passes a defective indictment (although I think it’s safe to say that the hitting occurred AFTER the law making it illegal was passed, unlike the DeLay case), the prosecutor can take a third bite of the apple and empanel a THIRD grand jury to go after McKinney.

Of course, the DeLay case happened in the Texas judicial system, while the McKinney matter was a federal case, but I think the principle should hold…

Pocketful of Quarters
Things you shouldn't have to say at work, Part 18

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