CLAYTON • Lawyers for Michael Brown’s family said Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon should have called for “zero tolerance” of bad behavior from police and protesters once the grand jury announces its decision about whether to charge the Ferguson police officer who shot the teen.

The family wants to “reiterate his denouncement of violence, looting and rioting in the name of Michael Brown,” said Anthony Gray, a Brown family attorney.

But, Gray said, “Law enforcement should have been equally condemned by the governor for this conduct at the same time he was admonishing the demonstrators. A strong message of zero tolerance should have been conveyed to all.”

Those remarks come amid the backdrop of a region unsettled by months of protests after Brown, 18, was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Many in the region fear what will happen if the grand jury investigating the case decides not to indict Wilson. The decision is expected this month.

The lawyers said they don’t trust the secrecy of the grand jury process. Attorney Benjamin Crump said Prosecutor Robert McCulloch had too much control over the grand jury.

“The grand jury will do whatever the prosecutor wants them to do,” he said. “This has always been about what evidence he presents and how he presents it.”

McCulloch is not presenting evidence to the grandjury. The case is being handled by two prosecutors iin his office — Sheila Whirley and Kathi Alizadeh.

Because the grand jury convenes in secret, Crump said, crucial elements cannot be witnessed by the public.

“We won’t know what emphasis is placed on a key piece of evidence. We won’t hear the inflection of a voice in testimony,” he said.

Crump said Wilson should have been charged by prosecutors long ago.

Crump and Gray spoke less than an hour after Dr. Michael Baden entered the courthouse to testify before the grand jury. Baden, a nationally known pathologist, has examined Brown’s body as a consultant for Brown’s family.

Gray and Crump would not comment on the substance of what they believed Baden would be telling the grand jurors. They did note that a chest wound Baden originally thought was a re-entry wound had been determined to be an entry wound. They did not explain the significance of that.

On Tuesday, Nixon talked about how police are preparing for what might come with the grand jury’s announcement. Nixon said his office and law enforcement agencies were “working around the clock” to keep residents and businesses safe while allowing protesters to exercise their constitutional rights after the grand jury’s decision is announced.

Kim Bell of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.