Autopsy results enough to charge officer, Brown family attorney says [View all]
Source: cnn.com
An independent autopsy into the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, provides "ample" evidence to support the arrest of the police officer who shot him, family attorney Daryl Parks said Monday at a news conference.
Parks was particularly concerned about gunshots that medical examiners hired by the family indicate came from behind and above.
"Why would he be shot in the very top of his head, a 6 foot-four man?" Parks asked. "Makes no sense."
The autopsy could support witnesses suggestions that Brown was holding his hands up in the air, said Shawn Purcell, who assisted in the autopsy. But other scenarios are possible, said Dr. Michael Baden who supervised the inquiry.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/18/us/missouri-teen-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
If the autopsy by the family is correct and the final shots came from behind and above, it would clearly indicate that he was no imminent threat to the officer (which is generally the level of support needed for taking down a suspect with a gun).
There has been a call to arrest Officer Wilson immediately. I believe that there is no need to arrest him, but a grand jury should be impaneled ASAP to see if he should be charged with a crime.
Why not arrested immediately? 1) he is not going anywhere 2) Generally police arrest a suspect for questioning, file reports, fingerprinting etc. There is no need to question him at this time as he is just going to claim the 5th amendment (which is his right), and his fingerprints are on file as an officer of the law. 3) as shown in Texas, you do not need to arrest someone before having a grand jury impaneled (with Perry).
The case should however be handled by the state DA or the US district attorney general, and not the local officials. Additionally, we can pretty much guess that Wilson's attorney will call for a change of venue, and the prosecution should pre-empt this by changing the venue to the nearest big city.
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