What would federal prosecutors have to prove in the Michael Brown shooting?

On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder will go to Ferguson, Mo. to assess the progress being made in the FBI’s investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown. With that visit in mind, it may be useful to consider what federal prosecutors would have to prove to obtain a federal civil rights conviction. It wouldn’t be easy.

The elements required to prove a federal criminal civil rights violation are quite demanding. Here are jury instructions describing the elements of a federal civil right offense, taken from the leading federal jury instruction form book:

First: That the defendant deprived the victim of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States by committing one or more of the acts charged in the indictment; Second: That the defendant acted willfully, that is, that the defendant committed such act or acts with a bad purpose or evil motive, intending to deprive the victim of that right; and Third: That the defendant acted under color of law. Fourth: That died as a result of defendant’s conduct.

“How do you know the sequence of the shots?”

If he was shot in the head first, he’d have been on the ground before the arm could have been shot (much less four times).

Coroner’s report (sketch available around here somewhere) documents the impact points, pretty much forming a line up his arm, thru his right eye, and ending at the top of his skull. That impact was instantly incapacitating (amounting to blowing his brains out), so that was obviously the last one. A rapid string of shots by a competent shooter under extreme stress can form such a line up the target.

That the first four shots (starting at bottom, working up) were off to the left is indicative of poor finger placement on trigger, presuming the gun was otherwise sighted in properly, and understandable considering fine motor skills evaporate under such stress, so his finger very well may have not been well-placed on the trigger. Putting the tip of the finger on the trigger will tend to push the gun left (assuming right-handed shooting), consistent with the cop aiming for “center of mass” and erring left, hitting the arm.

As the distance closed (consistent with Brown running toward Wilson), that error decreases, pulling the hit points back toward center of target, consistent with the line of impacts.

As “center of mass” shots fail to stop him, cop follows training and transitions to head shots which were (allowing for circumstances) perfectly delivered.

It’s possible that the arm shots were not progressively up the arm, but this is not a significant flaw to the overall theory of shot sequence in this case. What _is_ significant is that there were _four_ arm shots, and _two_ head shots: if the order of those was reversed, he’d have been on the ground before the arm shots were delivered. Even if those were mixed up (one or more arm shots between the head shots), the top-of-head hit had to be the last, and the eye socket impact would likely have been incapacitating before _four_ arm shots could have been delivered (_maybe_ 1-2 occurred, but that’s unlikely and incomplete).

That’s my theory, anyway. I don’t see how any other combination could have realistically played out under conceivable circumstances. Brown _had_ to be facing Wilson (front entry wounds only). Top-of-head impact _had_ to be the last one (instantly incapacitating). Other factors may be arguable, but informed/educated speculation limits the range of possibilities.

I’d also suggest that the face down positioning of Brown’s body indicates forward movement. Had he been stationary or retreating he would have ended up on his back.

I’m guessing that investgators will be able to determine, a rough minimum speed anyways, how fast Brown was moving based on the physics of six shots impacting his body. Again, based on the face down positioning of his body I’d conclude there was considerable forward momentum (consistent with him charging the cop).

Your reasoning is sound and frankly, agrees with my own speculation. Obviously, the final shot was the one to the top of the head that killed him.

But solid as this speculation is, it is just that: speculation.

However, as you point out, it is also largely irrelevant except to underscore the reality that Brown was attacking and continued to attack despite numerous wounds. Wilson had little choice but to kill him to stop the assault.

There is no way this was not a righteous shoot.

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