Michael Brown Shooting and Aftermath

[Jimmy Higgins]

K

If you read the article you will see there are as many as SEVEN AFRICAN AMERICAN WITNESSES who corroborate the policeman's story but have not spoken publicly for fear of retribution. So you are correct if they choose not to indict based on the testimoney of SEVEN AFRICAN AMERICAN WITNESSES all hell will break loose. What we have here is the need for vengeance.....

According to an anonymous source, who is prohibited from speaking about the case. Nothing from the eyewitnesses themselves or, more importantly, how their testimony supports Wilson.

We've already seen how they're weaseling the forensics, why should one take their word on the testimony? If there were truly exculpatory testimony, I think we would've seen some evidence of it before now. The closest I can recall is some witnesses said MB took a step or two towards Wilson before collapsing, others called it "staggering".

There is something to be said about seven lying witnesses. It wouldn't be likely that they'd have the same exact lies. If they are lying, it'll stick out.

 

[Horatio Parker]

K

According to an anonymous source, who is prohibited from speaking about the case. Nothing from the eyewitnesses themselves or, more importantly, how their testimony supports Wilson.

We've already seen how they're weaseling the forensics, why should one take their word on the testimony? If there were truly exculpatory testimony, I think we would've seen some evidence of it before now. The closest I can recall is some witnesses said MB took a step or two towards Wilson before collapsing, others called it "staggering".

There is something to be said about seven lying witnesses. It wouldn't be likely that they'd have the same exact lies. If they are lying, it'll stick out.

They don't even have to be lying. If they say that there was a struggle at the SUV, and/or that MB took a step towards Wilson before he fell dead, that's enough to say it's consistent with and "supports" Wilson's story. They could focus on the last shot, "were his arms up when the last shot was fired?" "No" There it is: his hands weren't up.

 

[HaRaAYaH]

K

If you read the article you will see there are as many as SEVEN AFRICAN AMERICAN WITNESSES who corroborate the policeman's story but have not spoken publicly for fear of retribution. So you are correct if they choose not to indict based on the testimoney of SEVEN AFRICAN AMERICAN WITNESSES all hell will break loose. What we have here is the need for vengeance.....

According to an anonymous source, who is prohibited from speaking about the case. Nothing from the eyewitnesses themselves or, more importantly, how their testimony supports Wilson.

We've already seen how they're weaseling the forensics, why should one take their word on the testimony? If there were truly exculpatory testimony, I think we would've seen some evidence of it before now. The closest I can recall is some witnesses said MB took a step or two towards Wilson before collapsing, others called it "staggering".

Only in your mind is there any weaseling. It's doesn't matter a rats butt nugget what somebody says to CNN. It matters what people say under oath where they can be questioned. It matters what they say to the grand jury. You seem to have a clear picture in your mind the cop is guilty of murder. That is a really stupid thing to do because you don't know the facts. I don't either. Any scenario you concoct, and concoct is the right word as in you made it up, I can concoct one that says he was stoned out of his mind and was charging the cop who had no choice but to fire. I would be guilty of having the same kind of stupid idea you have.

We don't know the facts. You don't get facts on CNN. We will just have to take a chill pill and wait for truth to come out. Once it does, you are free to believe what you want. Absent that anything you say is just made up out whole or partial cloth. His hands were up. For how long? Did he take them down (and they were down when he was shit in the arm and head) to surrender or to start charging the cop? Did the cop assault him with the car door or did he assault the cop through the window? Do you know for sure? Beyond all doubt. First he was shot when fleeing. Every single medical authority that either examined the body or the autopsy report including a renowned pathologist hired by the family say all wounds are in the front.

This is a tragic situation, for the town, for the cop, for the victim and his family. Once the grand jury is done, they will release everything and then all of us arm chair detectives can solve this crime to our personal satisfaction.

The one thing that bodes well for the cop is that he willingly testified in front of the grand jury. He had to feel very comfortable with the state of the evidence to do that. Potential defendants almost never testify before the grand jury. Of course he could be an arrogant prick who wasted a kid and felt he could get away with it. I don't know and neither do you.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

That would be Jimmy Higgins.

This is the Trayvon Martin thing all over again.

speaking about the store incident as if it happened at the scene of the shooting or that Officer Wilson even knew about it,

The store incident happened a short time before and a short distance away. It's not like it was Brown's youthful indiscretion and thus irrelevant here.
Whether or not Wilson knew about it or not, Brown definitely did know about it and that would have affected his behavior.

Where was MB when the fatal shot was fired and what was he doing?

It is unclear whether he was trying to surrender or to charge at the officer.
However, it is very likely that he had attacked Wilson moments before at the SUV and went for his gun, which would have put Wilson into a very high level of alertness. And 25' is less than the length of two Ford Fiestas. Not much of a distance for the perp to cover if he wanted to attack.

what happened before isnt the question. what happened when the fatal shot was fired is the crux of the case.

 

[Sabine Grant]

That would be Jimmy Higgins.

speaking about the store incident as if it happened at the scene of the shooting or that Officer Wilson even knew about it,

The store incident happened a short time before and a short distance away. It's not like it was Brown's youthful indiscretion and thus irrelevant here.
Whether or not Wilson knew about it or not, Brown definitely did know about it and that would have affected his behavior.

Where was MB when the fatal shot was fired and what was he doing?

It is unclear whether he was trying to surrender or to charge at the officer.
However, it is very likely that he had attacked Wilson moments before at the SUV and went for his gun, which would have put Wilson into a very high level of alertness. And 25' is less than the length of two Ford Fiestas. Not much of a distance for the perp to cover if he wanted to attack.

what happened before isnt the question. what happened when the fatal shot was fired is the crux of the case.

I have not counted how many time you and I have brought up that specific. I have no idea why such frenzy over whichever incident took place in the vehicle when indeed the crux of this case is whether Officer Wilson's claim of self defense, at the time he pursued to shoot and fatally wound an unarmed Michael Brown at a distance of about 25 feet, he had any justified cause to act in self defense by resorting to the use of lethal force.

Mind you that Officer Wilson claims that Michael Brown was "charging" towards him.

Are there credible visual witnesses to the distance shooting itself? .The contractor whose spontaneous reaction to the shooting was caught on a video is IMO a credible visual witness. He certainly cannot be discredited based on speculations that he would have an ax to grind with White cops, or has ties with the Ferguson Black community already frustrated with a high incidence of the Police targeting Black drivers. Cannot be discredited based on speculations that he was a "thug" or drug dealer or on any drugs.

How Michael Brown's body was positioned at the time the fatal shots to his head occurred is of extreme importance. Because even while speculating that he might have taken one or several steps towards Officer Wilson, everyone needs to be reminded that he had been hit by several bullets. Which means that the expectation he would have been "charging" Officer Wilson is quite unreasonable. Whereas his body motion leaning towards the direction of Officer Wilson due to his loss of balance caused by several bullets having hit him is a plausible explanation. And of course, let's not dismiss the spontaneous reaction of the contractor whose verbal exclamation clearly conveys that Brown had his hands up.

This is my perception of what may have happened :

1) Officer Wilson's threat assessment was influenced by his having been assaulted in his vehicle. However, his threat assessment was to readjust itself to a new circumstance where/when Brown was fleeing and according to the contractor at some point of time ,while the distance shooting was happening, Brown put his hands up. At that specific moment, Officer Wilson's threat assessment was to change to : fleeing party is surrendering, there is no imminent threat to my life.

2) I do not believe for an instant that Officer Wilson was motivated by any desire or need to kill a Black man that evening. Rather his threat assessment failed to readjust to the change of circumstance. Meaning that if any charges, I would not anticipate anything of a murder degree. Rather, manslaughter.

I certainly do not envy the members of the Grand Jury.

 

[Axulus]

That would be Jimmy Higgins.

speaking about the store incident as if it happened at the scene of the shooting or that Officer Wilson even knew about it,

The store incident happened a short time before and a short distance away. It's not like it was Brown's youthful indiscretion and thus irrelevant here.
Whether or not Wilson knew about it or not, Brown definitely did know about it and that would have affected his behavior.

Where was MB when the fatal shot was fired and what was he doing?

It is unclear whether he was trying to surrender or to charge at the officer.
However, it is very likely that he had attacked Wilson moments before at the SUV and went for his gun, which would have put Wilson into a very high level of alertness. And 25' is less than the length of two Ford Fiestas. Not much of a distance for the perp to cover if he wanted to attack.

what happened before isnt the question. what happened when the fatal shot was fired is the crux of the case.

That is false. If it is true that MB tried to wrestle the gun away from Wilson and two shots were fired in Wilson's SUV as a result, it very much changes the calculation on the threat assessment of MB turning around back toward the officer and starting to move (or appearing to move in his direction as Wilson would've been very disoriented with temporary hearing loss after two gunshots fired inside his vehicle with no hearing protection) in his direction from 25' away.

The best evidence we have that he was moving toward the officer during the final face-off is this:

In interviews with The Post, sources said blood spatter evidence shows that Brown was heading toward the officer during their faceoff, but analysis of the evidence did not reveal how fast Brown was moving.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...38c7b4-5964-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html

 

[RavenSky]

Not walking toward the officer while supposedly surrendering would help too.
Also you have to consider the officer's real time threat assessment - a big guy who just tried to take your gun and is standing ~25' away is still a major threat.
Finally, when Wilson opened fire again, Brown only had a graze wound on his thumb. Hardly a disabling shot.

And don't forget had just tried to wrestle control of your gun away causing two shots to go off inside your SUV (the cop would've essentially had hearing loss after that and would be disoriented as a result).

Let's pretend anyone was wrestling control of the gun when the two shots were fired inside the patrol car causing this hearing loss and disorientation...

Then the same applies to Mike Brown. He would have ALSO been suffering from hearing loss and disorientation.

 

[HaRaAYaH]

And don't forget had just tried to wrestle control of your gun away causing two shots to go off inside your SUV (the cop would've essentially had hearing loss after that and would be disoriented as a result).

Let's pretend anyone was wrestling control of the gun when the two shots were fired inside the patrol car causing this hearing loss and disorientation...

Then the same applies to Mike Brown. He would have ALSO been suffering from hearing loss and disorientation.

Not necessarily, he was outside the car and the officer was inside the car. Look context is king. Maybe he did have his hands up. Maybe the cop told him to get down and instead he moved towards the cop who he just assaulted a few moments before. Instead of laying down he moved towards the cop anyway. I don't give darn where his hands were. If he as told to lay down and instead moved towards the cop, that's threatening. But again, why don't we wait to hang the cop or denigrate the victim until we have all of the evidence? It will be out in a month or so....

 

[Horatio Parker]

K

According to an anonymous source, who is prohibited from speaking about the case. Nothing from the eyewitnesses themselves or, more importantly, how their testimony supports Wilson.

We've already seen how they're weaseling the forensics, why should one take their word on the testimony? If there were truly exculpatory testimony, I think we would've seen some evidence of it before now. The closest I can recall is some witnesses said MB took a step or two towards Wilson before collapsing, others called it "staggering".

Only in your mind is there any weaseling. It's doesn't matter a rats butt nugget what somebody says to CNN. It matters what people say under oath where they can be questioned. It matters what they say to the grand jury. You seem to have a clear picture in your mind the cop is guilty of murder. That is a really stupid thing to do because you don't know the facts. I don't either. Any scenario you concoct, and concoct is the right word as in you made it up, I can concoct one that says he was stoned out of his mind and was charging the cop who had no choice but to fire. I would be guilty of having the same kind of stupid idea you have.

We don't know the facts. You don't get facts on CNN. We will just have to take a chill pill and wait for truth to come out. Once it does, you are free to believe what you want. Absent that anything you say is just made up out whole or partial cloth. His hands were up. For how long? Did he take them down (and they were down when he was shit in the arm and head) to surrender or to start charging the cop? Did the cop assault him with the car door or did he assault the cop through the window? Do you know for sure? Beyond all doubt. First he was shot when fleeing. Every single medical authority that either examined the body or the autopsy report including a renowned pathologist hired by the family say all wounds are in the front.

This is a tragic situation, for the town, for the cop, for the victim and his family. Once the grand jury is done, they will release everything and then all of us arm chair detectives can solve this crime to our personal satisfaction.

The one thing that bodes well for the cop is that he willingly testified in front of the grand jury. He had to feel very comfortable with the state of the evidence to do that. Potential defendants almost never testify before the grand jury. Of course he could be an arrogant prick who wasted a kid and felt he could get away with it. I don't know and neither do you.

Your gratuitous remarks about not knowing would be stronger if you didn't use the opportunity to include pro Wilson arguments. Physician, heal thyself.

Understand something: grand juries are not trials. The prosecutor shows whatever he wishes and there are no advocates for anyone else. The dead man and his family have no advocates there. The prosecutor could've charged Wilson out of hand, with no proceeding. He could've called a hearing and let a judge decide. He could've recused himself, since prosecutors always work closely with the police. But he chose the route where he has the most influence and the least transparency. From that, coupled with the leaks, my guess is that the prosecutor has no intention of charging Wilson, no matter what the facts of the case are. It's a political decision.

 

[RavenSky]

Let's pretend anyone was wrestling control of the gun when the two shots were fired inside the patrol car causing this hearing loss and disorientation...

Then the same applies to Mike Brown. He would have ALSO been suffering from hearing loss and disorientation.

Not necessarily, he was outside the car and the officer was inside the car.

if he was outside the car, then he wasn't inside the car wrestling the gun away

Look context is king. Maybe he did have his hands up. Maybe the cop told him to get down and instead he moved towards the cop who he just assaulted a few moments before. Instead of laying down he moved towards the cop anyway. I don't give darn where his hands were. If he as told to lay down and instead moved towards the cop, that's threatening. But again, why don't we wait to hang the cop or denigrate the victim until we have all of the evidence? It will be out in a month or so....

one, he was 25 feet away by that point. Two, according to the claim I was responding to, he was also temporarily deaf and disoriented

 

[Rhea]

And don't forget had just tried to wrestle control of your gun away causing two shots to go off inside your SUV (the cop would've essentially had hearing loss after that and would be disoriented as a result).

Let's pretend anyone was wrestling control of the gun when the two shots were fired inside the patrol car causing this hearing loss and disorientation...

Then the same applies to Mike Brown. He would have ALSO been suffering from hearing loss and disorientation.

Well, plus that gunshot wound. Brown was suffering that, too.

 

[HaRaAYaH]

Not necessarily, he was outside the car and the officer was inside the car.

if he was outside the car, then he wasn't inside the car wrestling the gun away

Look context is king. Maybe he did have his hands up. Maybe the cop told him to get down and instead he moved towards the cop who he just assaulted a few moments before. Instead of laying down he moved towards the cop anyway. I don't give darn where his hands were. If he as told to lay down and instead moved towards the cop, that's threatening. But again, why don't we wait to hang the cop or denigrate the victim until we have all of the evidence? It will be out in a month or so....

one, he was 25 feet away by that point. Two, according to the claim I was responding to, he was also temporarily deaf and disoriented

His head was not inside the car, just his arms.

 

[HaRaAYaH]

Only in your mind is there any weaseling. It's doesn't matter a rats butt nugget what somebody says to CNN. It matters what people say under oath where they can be questioned. It matters what they say to the grand jury. You seem to have a clear picture in your mind the cop is guilty of murder. That is a really stupid thing to do because you don't know the facts. I don't either. Any scenario you concoct, and concoct is the right word as in you made it up, I can concoct one that says he was stoned out of his mind and was charging the cop who had no choice but to fire. I would be guilty of having the same kind of stupid idea you have.

We don't know the facts. You don't get facts on CNN. We will just have to take a chill pill and wait for truth to come out. Once it does, you are free to believe what you want. Absent that anything you say is just made up out whole or partial cloth. His hands were up. For how long? Did he take them down (and they were down when he was shit in the arm and head) to surrender or to start charging the cop? Did the cop assault him with the car door or did he assault the cop through the window? Do you know for sure? Beyond all doubt. First he was shot when fleeing. Every single medical authority that either examined the body or the autopsy report including a renowned pathologist hired by the family say all wounds are in the front.

This is a tragic situation, for the town, for the cop, for the victim and his family. Once the grand jury is done, they will release everything and then all of us arm chair detectives can solve this crime to our personal satisfaction.

The one thing that bodes well for the cop is that he willingly testified in front of the grand jury. He had to feel very comfortable with the state of the evidence to do that. Potential defendants almost never testify before the grand jury. Of course he could be an arrogant prick who wasted a kid and felt he could get away with it. I don't know and neither do you.

Your gratuitous remarks about not knowing would be stronger if you didn't use the opportunity to include pro Wilson arguments. Physician, heal thyself.

Understand something: grand juries are not trials. The prosecutor shows whatever he wishes and there are no advocates for anyone else. The dead man and his family have no advocates there. The prosecutor could've charged Wilson out of hand, with no proceeding. He could've called a hearing and let a judge decide. He could've recused himself, since prosecutors always work closely with the police. But he chose the route where he has the most influence and the least transparency. From that, coupled with the leaks, my guess is that the prosecutor has no intention of charging Wilson, no matter what the facts of the case are. It's a political decision.

I'm just pointing out the other side of the story. The idea this is a slam dunk is silly. By the way, the prosecutor is the victim's advocate. The idea the prosecutor is automatically on the cops side is also an argument without proof or merit. Once the GJ decides not to prosecute, all information becomes public and you can't get more transparent than that.

 

[RavenSky]

if he was outside the car, then he wasn't inside the car wrestling the gun away

Look context is king. Maybe he did have his hands up. Maybe the cop told him to get down and instead he moved towards the cop who he just assaulted a few moments before. Instead of laying down he moved towards the cop anyway. I don't give darn where his hands were. If he as told to lay down and instead moved towards the cop, that's threatening. But again, why don't we wait to hang the cop or denigrate the victim until we have all of the evidence? It will be out in a month or so....

one, he was 25 feet away by that point. Two, according to the claim I was responding to, he was also temporarily deaf and disoriented

His head was not inside the car, just his arms.

He must have extremely long arms then because otherwise, if his head is outside the car, I don't see how it would be physically possible for Mike Brown to have been reaching for the police officer's holstered gun as people are claiming he was.

 

[Toni]

Your gratuitous remarks about not knowing would be stronger if you didn't use the opportunity to include pro Wilson arguments. Physician, heal thyself.

Understand something: grand juries are not trials. The prosecutor shows whatever he wishes and there are no advocates for anyone else. The dead man and his family have no advocates there. The prosecutor could've charged Wilson out of hand, with no proceeding. He could've called a hearing and let a judge decide. He could've recused himself, since prosecutors always work closely with the police. But he chose the route where he has the most influence and the least transparency. From that, coupled with the leaks, my guess is that the prosecutor has no intention of charging Wilson, no matter what the facts of the case are. It's a political decision.

I'm just pointing out the other side of the story. The idea this is a slam dunk is silly. By the way, the prosecutor is the victim's advocate. The idea the prosecutor is automatically on the cops side is also an argument without proof or merit. Once the GJ decides not to prosecute, all information becomes public and you can't get more transparent than that.

The prosecutor must work with police. Prosecutors are also very reluctant to bring forward cases they do not feel certain they can win. Both of these factors could have an affect on whether or not charges are brought.

 

[Sabine Grant]

That would be Jimmy Higgins.

speaking about the store incident as if it happened at the scene of the shooting or that Officer Wilson even knew about it,

The store incident happened a short time before and a short distance away. It's not like it was Brown's youthful indiscretion and thus irrelevant here.
Whether or not Wilson knew about it or not, Brown definitely did know about it and that would have affected his behavior.

Where was MB when the fatal shot was fired and what was he doing?

It is unclear whether he was trying to surrender or to charge at the officer.
However, it is very likely that he had attacked Wilson moments before at the SUV and went for his gun, which would have put Wilson into a very high level of alertness. And 25' is less than the length of two Ford Fiestas. Not much of a distance for the perp to cover if he wanted to attack.

what happened before isnt the question. what happened when the fatal shot was fired is the crux of the case.

That is false. If it is true that MB tried to wrestle the gun away from Wilson and two shots were fired in Wilson's SUV as a result, it very much changes the calculation on the threat assessment of MB turning around back toward the officer and starting to move (or appearing to move in his direction as Wilson would've been very disoriented with temporary hearing loss after two gunshots fired inside his vehicle with no hearing protection) in his direction from 25' away.

The best evidence we have that he was moving toward the officer during the final face-off is this:

In interviews with The Post, sources said blood spatter evidence shows that Brown was heading toward the officer during their faceoff, but analysis of the evidence did not reveal how fast Brown was moving.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...38c7b4-5964-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html

From the same link,

According to Wilson’s testimony, the Post-Dispatch said, Brown was running toward Wilson when he was fatally shot and his hands were not up.

which relates to what I stated in the post preceding yours,

How Michael Brown's body was positioned at the time the fatal shots to his head occurred is of extreme importance. Because even while speculating that he might have taken one or several steps towards Officer Wilson, everyone needs to be reminded that he had been hit by several bullets. Which means that the expectation he would have been "charging" Officer Wilson is quite unreasonable. Whereas his body motion leaning towards the direction of Officer Wilson due to his loss of balance caused by several bullets having hit him is a plausible explanation. And of course, let's not dismiss the spontaneous reaction of the contractor whose verbal exclamation clearly conveys that Brown had his hands up.

Further, as you developed on Officer Wilson being disoriented, I expect you would be consistent in acknowledging that an individual who was shot several times is bound to experience physiological changes which can only impair their normally expected balance, range of motion and ability to mentally process what is being communicated to them.

The claim that Brown was "running toward" or "charging" (the term charging was used in several media reports) is highly questionable. And again, the bit about "and his hands were not up" in Officer Wilson's claim remains highly questionable considering the contractor's spontaneous reaction to the shooting, reaction which was communicated verbally and captured on video.

You stated in your reply to Athena "it is false". I contend it is not. Officer Wilson's threat assessment was to re adjust the moment the circumstance changed. It changed from direct physical contact while in the vehicle to Brown fleeing and according to the contractor's visual testimony having his "hands up".

And again, while you afford to Officer Wilson a state of "disorientation", I must question why you somehow expect Michael Brown having been shot several times to not be afforded an alteration of his motions, balance and mental abilities. Unless of course you are under the impression that the impact and penetration of several bullets have no altering effects.

The Grand Jury's task is to determine the validity of Officer Wilson's claim based on self defense. That will determine whether the Grand Jury concludes with charges to be filed against him or none. Whether Michael Brown, at the time Officer Wilson chose to fatally wound him (shots to the head are usually a guarantee of fatality), presented an imminent threat to Officer Wilson's life. Legitimate questions will have to be raised as to whether Officer Wilson's threat assessment, at the time he shot Brown to the head, is compatible with evidence that Brown was indeed a threat sufficient to warrant Officer Wilson's choice to fatally shoot him. That is indeed the crux of this case.

And Axulus, you have not demonstrated that it is not.

 

[Sabine Grant]

I'm just pointing out the other side of the story. The idea this is a slam dunk is silly. By the way, the prosecutor is the victim's advocate. The idea the prosecutor is automatically on the cops side is also an argument without proof or merit. Once the GJ decides not to prosecute, all information becomes public and you can't get more transparent than that.

The prosecutor must work with police. Prosecutors are also very reluctant to bring forward cases they do not feel certain they can win. Both of these factors could have an affect on whether or not charges are brought.

Not sure it is the case in Missouri but in Florida, State Attorneys who are our prosecutors can choose to either press charges themselves by bypassing a Grand Jury or leave it to a Grand Jury to decide whether charges should be pressed. I recall having read an article in the Tampa Tribune a few years ago which discussed the SA's choice being based on weak versus strong potential to win the case. IOW, their choice is based on self interest regarding their career. Because the damage done to their reputation if they cannot convince the Grand Jury to press charges is much lower than if they do not obtain a conviction during a trial. It is widely acknowledged that a prosecutor who has a low rate of convictions from trials is not going to have a successful career especially when they are elected.

Voters tend to favor re electing their SAs based on their conviction rates.

 

[Derec]

Not sure it is the case in Missouri but in Florida, State Attorneys who are our prosecutors can choose to either press charges themselves by bypassing a Grand Jury or leave it to a Grand Jury to decide whether charges should be pressed. I recall having read an article in the Tampa Tribune a few years ago which discussed the SA's choice being based on weak versus strong potential to win the case. IOW, their choice is based on self interest regarding their career. Because the damage done to their reputation if they cannot convince the Grand Jury to press charges is much lower than if they do not obtain a conviction during a trial. It is widely acknowledged that a prosecutor who has a low rate of convictions from trials is not going to have a successful career especially when they are elected.

Voters tend to favor re electing their SAs based on their conviction rates.

Angela Corey was criticized for not going to the grand jury on the rather weak Trayvon case. She presumably did it to appease activists because a "no bill" would have inflamed passions.
Surely the nation could have saved itself a lot of drama (and Florida a lot of dollars) had that case been nipped in the bud.

 

[Derec]

Further, as you developed on Officer Wilson being disoriented, I expect you would be consistent in acknowledging that an individual who was shot several times

He was only shot once while at the vehicle, a graze wound to the thumb.

is bound to experience physiological changes which can only impair their normally expected balance, range of motion and ability to mentally process what is being communicated to them.

I expect the initial wound hurt but did not affect his balance or range of motion. As far as "ability to mentally process", that is possible to some extent but if Wilson was indeed attacked at the SUV I do not think he was required to give him any benefit of the doubt on that.

The claim that Brown was "running toward" or "charging" (the term charging was used in several media reports) is highly questionable. And again, the bit about "and his hands were not up" in Officer Wilson's claim remains highly questionable considering the contractor's spontaneous reaction to the shooting, reaction which was communicated verbally and captured on video.

We know eyewitnesses are generally rather unreliable. Reportedly the distance between Wilson and Brown was 25' when the second round of shots happened which is not really far at all and a perp can cover it in no time (especially when hopped up on adrenaline). So it is understandable that Wilson would interpret any movement toward him as a threat and act accordingly.

Officer Wilson's threat assessment was to re adjust the moment the circumstance changed.

Wilson's threat assessment is rightly to include what Brown tried to do just seconds before.

It changed from direct physical contact while in the vehicle to Brown fleeing and according to the contractor's visual testimony having his "hands up".

He didn't go very far (about two Ford Fiestas worth) and turned around. He definitely was't shot in the back nor did he have his hands up when he was shot in the arms according to the autopsy. According to Wilson and some other witnesses he started moving toward Wilson again. That is threatening behavior.

And again, while you afford to Officer Wilson a state of "disorientation", I must question why you somehow expect Michael Brown having been shot several times to not be afforded an alteration of his motions, balance and mental abilities. Unless of course you are under the impression that the impact and penetration of several bullets have no altering effects.

Only one bullet, and it grazed his thumb rather than penetrating. All the other gunshot wounds
But I will give you that with the adrenaline, THC and pain Brown was likely disoriented as well. That doesn't change the fact that if Brown previously attacked Wilson and was then moving toward him again that it was a good shoot.

The Grand Jury's task is to determine the validity of Officer Wilson's claim based on self defense. That will determine whether the Grand Jury concludes with charges to be filed against him or none. Whether Michael Brown, at the time Officer Wilson chose to fatally wound him (shots to the head are usually a guarantee of fatality), presented an imminent threat to Officer Wilson's life. Legitimate questions will have to be raised as to whether Officer Wilson's threat assessment, at the time he shot Brown to the head, is compatible with evidence that Brown was indeed a threat sufficient to warrant Officer Wilson's choice to fatally shoot him. That is indeed the crux of this case.

Unfortunately I fear that the grand jury will also consider the likelihood of further rioting and maybe vote to indict even if they think "no bill" would have been appropriate given evidence in the absence of political consideration.

And Axulus, you have not demonstrated that it is not.

Given the totality of the case, and what we know about it, I think "no bill" would be the right decision.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Wow, there are so many detailed narratives based on soundbites of information.