Ferguson outcome could come Friday

The Missouri grand jury considering whether to charge the police officer who shot and killed teenager Michael Brown is planning to hold its final session on Friday and could make a decision on the case that day, CNN reported Wednesday night.

If jurors decide to charge officer Darren Wilson on Friday, there will likely be no public announcement of their decision until Sunday. Law enforcement officials have requested that they be given 48 hours notice before a decision is made public.

{mosads}CNN reported that the prosecutor might change the date on which the jury has its final meeting.

Observers are closely watching the area in advance on the decision, after protests in the wake of Brown’s killing occasionally turned violent, and police were accused of using outsize tactics and violating civil liberties. Brown, an 18-year-old African-American, was unarmed at the time of his death.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard on Monday to prepare for the grand jury decision.

“People have a right to express their views and grievances, but they do not have a right to put their fellow citizens or their property at risk,” he said earlier in November.

Community members have also expressed concerns that law enforcement will respond with the military equipment and tactics that drew national criticism over the summer.

In early November, community groups asked law enforcement to agree to a set of “rules of engagement” that included providing them with advance notice of the decision.

The grand jury is weighing two alternate versions of the events that lead up to Brown’s death. Some witnesses have said publicly that he had surrendered to Wilson before he was shot. Others have said he grabbed Wilson’s gun, which went off two times.