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Ferguson police shooting grand jury judge refuses age disclosure

The judge presiding over the Missouri grand jury that will decide whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown refused a media request to disclose the age and residence of its members.

Last week, Circuit Judge Carolyn Whittington granted a Bloomberg News request that she reveal the racial makeup of the panel, disclosing that it includes nine whites and three blacks. A court administrator said at the time that the breakdown roughly mirrors the demographics of the jurisdiction.

Wilson, who is white, killed Brown, an 18-year-old black man, in a confrontation that spurred days of riots, protests and Governor Jay Nixon's activation of the National Guard. The incident has stoked concerns about the majority white police department's treatment of black residents in the St. Louis suburb.

Today, the judge declined to give further identifying details of the grand jury, denying a request by Bloomberg News and the St. Louis Post-Disptach. The grand jury, which sits in Clayton, 12 miles from the scene of the shooting, includes seven men and five women. They aren't expected to conclude deliberations until October at the earliest, said Edward Magee, a spokesman for prosecutor Bob McCulloch.

McCulloch's office didn't object to the release of information at a hearing last week, or this morning.

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