Mike Brown Shooting Essay

The Mike Brown Shooting:

On August 9, 2014 Mike Brown and Darren Wilson were on a collision course to faithful meeting ending with Mike Brown's death. Mike Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson robbed a convenience store of cigarillos. Mr. Brown is seen on surveillance video shoving one of the grocers on his way out. At 18 years old, Big Mike as Dorian calls him is an imposing 6'4" 290lbs.

Darren Wilson, Ferguson Police Officer, 28 years old 6'4" 210lbs. Began working at the Ferguson police department 3 years ago. August 9, had begun with Wilson working a 12 hour shift at 6:30am. As he headed for towards his faithful meeting with Mike Brown he heard a call over his radio of a robbery at a convenience store, perpetrated by two black male.

Reading

some of Officer Wilson's Police interview, which took place immediately after the incident, his description of the events leave some open questions in my mind as to why the prosecutor did not investigate further when he testified for the gran jury:

Um, they had been walking in the middle. I remember seeing two cars I believe go around them and they hadn't moved. I pulled up to 'em, stopped with them about at my hood as they kept walking towards me. I told 'em, ?Hey guys, why don't you walk on the sidewalk.? The first one said, um, we're almost to our destination? and pointed this direction. So, I guess that's northeast.

In the police report he describes the events and says he stopped the boys because he noticed they were walking in the middle of the street, He calls for back up because when he stopped the car in front of Mike Brown he was unable to open the door or says that Mr Brown shoved as he attempted to get out.

One would think the reason for this confrontation was suppose to be the robbery which is what he claims later before the gran jury. However, I imagine that the police report would be a more reliable source, since it captures the events the very day they happened. In his Gran Jury testimony he does have a more comprehensive account of what Wilson claimed happened which includes the robbery this

time:

As Johnson came around my driver's side mirror i said, 'why don't you guys walk on the sidewalk.' He kept walking, as he is walking he said, 'we are almost to our destination." ...
Brown was starting to come around the mirror and as he came around the mirror i said, 'well, what's wrong with the sidewalk.' Brown then replied ... '(expletive) what you have to say.' And when he said that, it drew my attention totally to Brown. It was a very unusual and not expected response from a simple request ....

first thing I notice is in his right hand, his hand is full of Cigarillos. And that's when it clicked for me ... I did a doublecheck that Johnson was wearing a black shirt, these are the two from the stealing ...

I got on my radio and Frank 21 is my call sign that day, i said Frank 21 I'm on Canfield with two, send me another car. I then placed my car in reverse and backed up ... the back of my vehicle to cut them off ...

The prosecutor, Mr. McCulloch, makes no effort to draw attention to the discrepansies in the story Officer Wilson recounts. I feel it's of great importance where the focus of these two different stories lie. One is about a confrontation over walking in the middle of the street the other is about noticing the perps of a robbery and persuing them. However, only one is a second degree felony not a capital crime to warrant pursuit.
Wilson's attempt to create this illusion of a; Fleeing Felon: The use of "deadly force" to stop a "dangerous person" fleeing from the scene of a "forcible and atrocious crime," or suspected of having committed such a crime, is legally justifiable, helped him to win his case with the assistance of McCulloch.

Who was remiss in drawing upon the uncorrected version of this case laws-- Tennessee v Garner (1985) 471 U.S. 1 [85 L.Ed.2nd 1]; P.C. §§ 196.3, 197.4, above. Which was prescribed to the Jurors and only when going in was it corrected. It's McCulloc's job to have Wilson justify his use of force and prove the need for deadly force, then perhaps an indictment would have

occurred.
Later in his testimony Wilson describe the struggle inside his police car for his gun;

So I pulled the trigger, it just clicks that time. Without even looking, I just grab the top of my gun, the slide and I racked it, and I put my, still not looking just holding my hand up, I pulled the trigger again, it goes off. When I look A When I look up after that, I see him start running a cloud of dust behind him. I then get out of my car. As I'm getting out of the car I tell dispatch, "shots fired, send me more cars."We start running, kind of the same direction that Johnson had pointed. Across the street like a diagonal towards this, kind of like where the parking lot came in for Copper Creek Court and Canfield, right at that intersection. And there is a light pole right there, I remember him running towards the light pole."

Hopkins v. Andaya (9th Cir. 1992) 958 F.2nd 881, 887; holding that an officer's second use of deadly force was unreasonable even though the suspect had violently assaulted the officer a few minutes before, but by the time of the second use of deadly force, although he was advancing towards the officer, he was wounded and unarmed. Enough said, another opportunity to question deeper why after Wilson acknowledged he had blood in his hand he knew wasn't his, he decided to then pursue Brown. A missed chance by McCullouch and his team.
In looking at Officer Wilson's medical report without being an expert one can easily conclude that he was not in imminent danger nor was his life threatened. I believe he had time to make that assessment when Brown ran after the shots fired in the car and Brown took off. The report notes that Wilson had "unspecified injury" to "face and neck. His pulse was 71 respiration 18 blood pressure 152/88 all his vitals were within normal range. He was observed by the doctor to be "well nourished and in no apparent distress. His mandible seems intact" He was given 500mg of Naprosyn --for the self reported bruises to the face and neck. His x-ray came back and were deemed "Unremarkable Study"--and he was sent home.
It does not escape me that we ask police officers to put their lives on the line every day and give them a gun to protect themselves. Yet, they are trapped in a conundrum if they use that gun are they then hold them accountable for a potential misuse or miscalculation? However, there is a fineline between having genuinely felt threatened and using the postition to either cover ineptitude, which we should root out. Or, malicious intent and disregard for the very oath you swore to up hold.
Like Pontius Pilate, McCullouch used the gran jury to do what his cowardice didn't allow him to. He made it easy for them not to indict and relieved himself of the responsibilities of persuing a case by filing formal charges, initiating a prelimenary hearing before a judge in other words putting on a real case. McCullouch got the gran jury to take the responsibility for letting Darren Wilson walk.