Nick Chiles
Judge Ellen Levy Siwak
Posted on 09/10/2014 12:13:37 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Michael Brown’s body may be gone, but a serious effort is afoot in St. Louis County to assassinate his character — just as a Missouri grand jury is deciding whether to charge police officer Darren Wilson in his killing last month.
Judge Ellen Levy Siwak, a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge, had to deny two separate petitions Tuesday by media outlets trying to get their hands on Brown’s juvenile criminal records. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and GotNews.com are both seeking the records, even though a juvenile court official said last week that Brown had no serious felony convictions as a juvenile.
But that hasn’t deterred the media outlets.
This has become a familiar chapter in the journey to justice for unarmed black men and women who are killed by police or vigilantes. It happened to Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Renisha McBride, Eric Garner and many others who were choked to death or gunned down for no justifiable reason.
St. Louis County police officials made their first foray into character assassination when they released images shortly after his death allegedly showing Brown assaulting a store clerk while stealing a box of cigarillos. Though it has been well established that Wilson had no knowledge of any allegations that Brown had committed a crime when he encountered the teen walking down a Ferguson street, the police were clearly trying to let the public know that Brown was a bad guy.
The release of the images reportedly angered Attorney General Eric Holder and Justice Department officials, who knew they would inflame already smoldering tensions in Ferguson.
In Siwak’s courtroom, Joe Martineau, attorney for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, argued that there is a public interest in Brown’s background. GotNews.com editor-in-chief Charles Johnson has said the public deserved to know whether a record existed for Brown.
Johnson said he is considering appealing the judge’s decision.
Journalistic standards certainly do not dictate that the public “deserves” any information about Brown’s background if that information has nothing to do with the case at hand. Of course it is expected that any publication is going to try to dig up whatever it can about the major actors in an explosive case such as this one. But we are well aware of what will happen if any negative information about Brown is made public — it will give members of the grand jury (nine of whom are white and three are Black) pause in their deliberations about whether to charge Wilson with a crime.
These were the same calculations made by the jury when deliberating the fate of George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin: If the teen really did present a danger, perhaps Zimmerman was justified in killing him.
Now, it appears the same story is being repeated.
Nick Chiles
Judge Ellen Levy Siwak
Is Sgt Wilson’s record as a police officer relevant to the case?
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if his juvenile record was anywhere *near* being clean they'd trot it out constantly.The fact that the family's blocking its release....well,you know.
Michael Brown knew he strong armed the cigars.
If there are “no serious felony convictions” on it, why hide it. Just a few robberies, burglaries, and assaults.
Uhhhh. is there a "joking" felony conviction that I'm not aware of?
appointed by a Republican governor
“Though it has been well established that Wilson had no knowledge of any allegations that Brown had committed a crime when he encountered the teen walking down a Ferguson street”
Hey A Hole, I am not sure that is what the record actually shows.
Hey Judge: tell me again about a right to privacy for someone who is dead??
Absolutely.*Everything* about the lives of both the cop and the Gentle Giant are important.If I was a juror I'd want to know the facts regarding events surrounding the incident itself *and* background info.One practical example...the video of the Gentle Giant stealing $40 worth of goods and then throwing around the man who tried to stop him like a rag doll doesn't *prove* anything but it sure strongly suggests one or two things.OTOH,if the cop had disciplinary problems,if there was evidence of drugs or booze,spousal or child abuse that *too* would be of enormous interest to me as a juror.
“Assassinate Brown’s character” = telling the truth about him
Even if that claim is true (which,IMO,is by no means certain) the *giant* knew that he had done it and could reasonably fear that the cop knew as well.That would alter his thinking and actions for sure....possibly causing the cop to be suspicious.
Nick Chiles is a scumbag. People want the truth, not lies pushed by the race industry.
But Michael Brown KNEW he had and that's why he attacked the cop. The officer was taken by surprise and did what any normal officer would do to protect himself from a second attack...................
He was walking down the middle of the street, probably feeling pretty cocky after lifting the cigars and feeling guilty also overreacted to the officer telling him to stop obstructing traffic.
The question is what creates a person who apparently has been admitted to college and has a chance to improve his life to snatch the cigars. Was he afraid of failing in college so set up the conditions to not have to face it?
If we could get TMZ on the case, they’d have the files and never before seen video tapes.
From the weasel wording I think it's safe to say that it's a given that Mr Brown has at least one felony conviction.
Whether Brown's conviction is “serious” or not is matter open to debate.
It's also very possible that Mr Brown has been arrested for some serious felonies but plea bargained them down or has not yet been convicted
He had a character to assassinate?
When I was 18 I had never even been *questioned* by a cop,let alone convicted of a crime.Not even stealing a pack of gum...or littering...or jaywalking.
Is anyone else getting sick and tired of this lame PC White Wash Shuck & Jive whenever the “victim” is black?
It got criminally old at warp speed with Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. And since it cleared that hurdle once. It’s become SOP!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.