Please focus on the framing of the scenario:
- A shooting case of a Black person
- In the South
- In pursuit of JUSTICE for the victim - the District Attorney is forced to drop the charges
- Fear of Witness Intimidation in which those who don't keep their mouth shut face the same threat
- The DA draws upon other cases of intimidation and violence to render his decision about the risk that the new witnesses might face.
Are these facts treated as EQUAL as compared to the more classical constructs of "Civil Rights Violations"?
What are the germane facts that make this case inferior to those which are defined as such?
From The Article
The DeKalb County District Attorney's Office said Friday that it had no choice but to dismiss charges -- at least for now -- against a shooting suspect rather than disclose the names of its key witnesses and potentially expose them to retaliation.The decision came after a standoff during a hearing for Undrea Burley, 29, who is accused of shooting a man during a dispute outside Club Nite Lite in Decatur on July 24. A bullet grazed the head of the victim, police said.At Thursday's court hearing, when a DeKalb detective testified there were two eyewitnesses, Burley's public defender asked for their names. A DeKalb prosecutor objected, but Magistrate Phyllis Williams ordered the names disclosed. Instead of allowing the detective to divulge the names, the DA's office abruptly dismissed the charges, ending the hearing.In a statement, the office said it will seek a criminal indictment against Burley in the shooting when the grand jury meets Tuesday. "At all times, we are concerned about the safety and well-being of our victims and witnesses," the office said. The dismissal "was our only means of protecting key eyewitnesses at this time."Over the past year, a number of key witnesses have been attacked before trial. In February, a critical witness in the Fulton County prosecution of 30 Deep gang member Jonathan Redding was shot, requiring his leg to be amputated. A witness in another Fulton prosecution survived being shot four times, but when asked to testify, he refused. Prosecutors then arrested and jailed the man, who then changed his mind and testified, helping secure the conviction.Burley remains in custody because he was on probation for a prior felony at the time authorities allege he fired shots outside Club Nite Lite in July. DeKalb prosecutors have moved to revoke that probation. In June, the DeKalb grand jury also indicted Burley and two other men in a robbery and other shootings in December 2009.If Burley had not been on probation, he would have been booked out of jail, Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter said."Luckily, they had options to keep him in custody," Porter said.The DeKalb DA's office chose to dismiss the arrest warrant against Burley during a "probable cause" hearing in which Williams had to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to keep Burley in custody until prosecutors presented their case to the grand jury for indictment.
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