ST. LOUIS (AP) – A St. Louis County judge has rejected a request by the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund to convene a new grand jury to consider charges against the Ferguson police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The civil rights group says a court administrator responded on behalf of St. Louis County Circuit Judge Maura McShane, whom it had asked in a Jan. 5 letter to also appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the case.

The group had cited concerns about the decision by Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch to allow a witness to provide false testimony, as well as erroneous legal instructions to grand jurors.

The grand jury declined to indict former Ferguson officer Darren Wilson.