At approximately noon on Saturday, August 9, 2014, Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department ("FPD") shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old. The Criminal Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") subsequently opened a criminal investigation into whether the shooting violated federal law. The Department has determined that the evidence does not support charging a violation of federal law. This memorandum details the Department's investigation, findings, and conclusions. Part I provides an introduction and overview. Part II summarizes the federal investigation and the evidence uncovered during the course of the investigation, and discusses the applicable federal criminal civil rights law and standards of federal prosecution. Part III provides a more in-depth summary of the evidence. Finally, Part IV provides a detailed legal analysis of the evidence and explains why the evidence does not support an indictment of Darren Wilson.
At approximately noon on Saturday, August 9, 2014, Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department ("FPD") shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old. The Criminal Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") (collectively, "The Department") subsequently opened a criminal investigation into whether the shooting violated federal law. The Department has determined that the evidence does not support charging a violation of federal law. This memorandum details the Department's investigation, findings, and conclusions. Part I provides an introduction and overview. Part II summarizes the federal investigation and the evidence uncovered during the course of the investigation, and discusses the applicable federal criminal civil rights law and standards of federal prosecution. Part III provides a more in-depth summary of the evidence. Finally, Part IV provides a detailed legal analysis of the evidence and explains why the evidence does not support an indictment of Darren Wilson.
The Department conducted an extensive investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown. Federal authorities reviewed physical, ballistic, forensic, and crime scene evidence; medical reports and autopsy reports, including an independent autopsy performed by the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces Medical Examiner Service ("AFMES"); Wilson's personnel records; audio and video recordings; and internet postings. FBI agents, St. Louis County Police Department ("SLCPD") detectives, and federal prosecutors and prosecutors from the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office ("county prosecutors") worked cooperatively to both independently and jointly interview more than 100 purported eyewitnesses and other individuals claiming to have relevant information. SLCPD detectives conducted an initial canvass of the area on the day of the shooting. FBI agents then independently canvassed more than 300 residences to locate and interview additional witnesses. Federal and local authorities collected cellular phone data, searched social media sites, and tracked down dozens of leads from community members and dedicated law enforcement email addresses and tip lines in an effort to investigate every possible source of information.
Criminal Procedure and Racial Injustice brings a sustained emphasis on race to the traditional content of criminal procedure. Rather than a wholesale revision of the standard criminal procedure fare, it amply covers all the familiar subject matter areas while integrating into those topics the roles that racial prejudice and racial disparities have played and continue to play in the criminal justice system. For example, the Investigative volume of the book looks deeply into the role that race—mostly implicitly—played not only in the Court’s written decision of Terry v. Ohio but also in the trial and appellate advocacy that produced that decision, including the direct and cross-examinations in the suppression hearing. The Adjudicative volume looks closely at the role that race has played in the makeup of juries in criminal trials, including defense counsel’s ability to pursue voir dire questioning of potential jurors to screen for racial bias; the historical use by prosecutors of peremptory challenges to eliminate Black potential jurors, and the attempt to eliminate that practice by the Supreme Court in Batson v. Kentucky; and the perils of cross-race eyewitness identification in criminal trials. A secondary focus of the book is lawyering—the decisions and tactics of the prosecutors and defense lawyers that undergird the cases in the book. To that end, the plentiful Notes and Questions following the cases provoke thought and discussion not only on the relevant legal doctrine and the racial implications of the doctrine, but also on the choices made by the prosecutors and defense counsel. Benefits for instructors and students: Flexible organization Interesting, timely cases Sophisticated, robust notes and questions following each case Investigative chapters: Police Interrogation and the Fifth Amendment—the scope of the Fifth Amendment privilege; the backdrop for and decision in Miranda v. Arizona; the implementation of Miranda’s custody; interrogation and waiver/assertion components; and the durability of Miranda The Fourth Amendment—the definitions of search and seizure; the “warrant requirement” and its exceptions; and the landmark case of Terry v. Ohio and its legacies for racial profiling, traffic stops, etc. The Exclusionary Rule—the origins of the rule and its exceptions (good faith, attenuation, standing, etc.) and including a section on suppression hearings The Grand Jury—its purported independence, informality, and secrecy; its virtually unlimited power to subpoena witnesses and documents; and grand jury abuse Addressing Police Misconduct—an unconventional chapter exploring the Supreme Court’s resurrection of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as a private remedy for civil rights violations, the victims of which are disproportionately members of minority groups; the Court’s subsequent weakening of that remedy through doctrines such as qualified immunity; and the Department of Justice’s administrative remedy to address a “pattern and practice” of police misconduct under 42 U.S.C. § 14141. This subject has become increasingly important in the Criminal Procedure realm as recent Supreme Court decisions rejecting application of the exclusionary rule have sometimes cited § 1983 as an adequate alternative remedy. Adjudicative chapters: The Right to Counsel and Criminal Defense—including claims for ineffective assistance of counsel and the chronic underfunding of public indigent defense The Prosecution Function—the enormous discretion, power and ethical responsibilities of that office Pleas and Plea Bargaining—which account for the resolution of over 95% of criminal cases without a trial or any substantial judicial involvement The Right to a Jury Trial—including a glimpse at the surprising results generated by an “originalist” perspective on the right Eyewitness Identification—the fallibility of which has become even clearer in the era of demonstrably wrongful convictions Incarceration—including a look at bail/pretrial detention and the racially unequal impacts of the death penalty and the legislative crack/cocaine disparity Two unconventional chapters—Discriminatory Enforcement, which considers, among other things, the high hurdles in making such claims; and The Department of Justice and the Prosecution of Civil Rights Crimes, which broadly examines DOJ enforcement policies from Reconstruction through notable police violence cases of the 21st century
The death of Michael Brown, Jr., in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014, has become a touchstone for reform in three areas of American society: the high incidence of black citizens killed by white policemen; the pattern and effect of systemic racism in the countrys criminal justice system; the need for study and reform of current federal and state grand jury systems. The Thirteenth Juror illustrates the pitfalls of the grand jury system by inviting readers to take a seat with the 12 people selected as grand jurors in the Michael Brown case, and to share the evidence and process they went through. Details that were not openly or adequately questioned are highlighted, and the impact of the posture and attitude of the prosecuting attorneys is explored. Disparities are uncovered in the narrative of Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, who was responsible for Browns death, and the process of informing or misinforming jury members regarding the law(s) governing their deliberations is given critical attention. Ultimately, throughout the 24 days of testimony, the deeply human side of this tragedy is shared. And measured against the history of the grand jury process itself, this is a case study illustrating the need for examination and reform.
Most murderers and rapists escape justice, a horrifying fact that has gone largely unexamined until now. This groundbreaking book tours nearly the entire criminal justice system, examining the rules and practices that regularly produce failures of justice in serious criminal cases. Each chapter outlines the nature and extent of justice failures in present practice, describing the interests at stake, and providing real-world examples. Finally, each chapter reviews proposed and implemented reforms that could balance the competing interests in a less justice-frustrating manner and recommends one—sometimes completely original—reform to improve the system. A systematic study of justice failures is long overdue. As this book discusses, regular failures of justice in serious criminal cases undermine deterrence and the criminal justice system’s credibility with the community as a moral authority. The damage caused by unpunished crime is immense and, even worse, falls primarily on vulnerable minority communities. Now for the first time, students, researchers, policymakers, and citizens have a resource that explains why justice failures occur and what can be done about them. Confronting Failures of Justice is accessible for use by college freshman through graduate students and law students and is designed to be main text for a course on justice failures, but it could be used in conjunction with other texts in a broad range of courses touching on criminal justice. It presents arguments in a highly-organized fashion and provides dozens of case studies, many with photographs, to gain student interest and to bring the academic discussions to life.
Wrongful convictions are the result of faulty or false scientific evidence in 50% of the cases. Defense counsel is often at a great disadvantage in defending against evidence based on science. Illusory Evidence: The Psychology and Sociology of Wrongful Convictions is written for the non-scientist, to make complicated scientific information clear and concise enough for attorneys and judges to master. This is obtained by providing case studies to simplify issues in forensic psychology for the legal professional. - Increases the courts' knowledge about areas of psychology that have been debunked, have advanced, or have been refined by the scientific community - Covers issues in psychological forensics, namely: Profiling, Psychological Defenses, Mitigation, Eyewitness Testimony/Identification, Child Testimony, Repressed Memories, False Confessions and Moral Panic - Trains prosecuting attorneys about the present state of the forensic psychology, to avoid relying only on legal precedent and will not present flawed science to the court - Provides defense attorneys the knowledge necessary to competently defend where forensic psychology plays a part in a prosecution - Arms innocence projects and appellate attorneys with the latest information to challenge convictions - Uses case studies to simplify issues in forensic psychology for the legal professional
A provocative and timely collection of essays from a celebrated cultural critic on race, diversity, and resegregation. "The Smartest Book of the Year" (The Washington Post) In these provocative, powerful essays acclaimed writer/journalist Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, Who We Be) takes an incisive and wide-ranging look at the recent tragedies and widespread protests that have shaken the country. Through deep reporting with key activists and thinkers, passionately personal writing, and distinguished cultural criticism, We Gon’ Be Alright links #BlackLivesMatter to #OscarsSoWhite, Ferguson to Washington D.C., the Great Migration to resurgent nativism. Chang explores the rise and fall of the idea of “diversity,” the roots of student protest, changing ideas about Asian Americanness, and the impact of a century of racial separation in housing. He argues that resegregation is the unexamined condition of our time, the undoing of which is key to moving the nation forward to racial justice and cultural equity.
The Use of Force in Criminal Justice addresses the how, why, and when of utilizing force against citizens in a democracy. This is the first true textbook on this topic, offering students and instructors a balanced, research-based approach to understanding the use of force in law enforcement, as well as in corrections and juvenile justice. Hough includes features to reinforce key concepts, including "What-Why," "Try This," "Going Global," and "Research Results" boxes. The Use of Force in Criminal Justice combines academic and practitioner perspectives, making the book well-suited for undergraduate and graduate courses in criminal justice as well as professional training and executive education. The text is accompanied by online resources such as PowerPoints, lesson notes, and a test bank. The Use of Force in Criminal Justice is an invaluable aid for force trainers, risk managers, and attorneys who must understand the research on force and force issues rather than the rhetoric of individual anecdotes and personal system-of-force concepts.
Introduction to Criminal Justice: Systems, Diversity, and Change, Fourth Edition, offers students a brief, yet thorough, introduction to criminal justice with up-to-date coverage of all aspects of the system in succinct and engaging chapters. Authors Callie Marie Rennison and Mary Dodge weave four true criminal case studies throughout the book, capturing students’ attention with memorable stories that illustrate the real-life pathways and outcomes of criminal behavior and victimization. Designed to show the connectedness of the criminal justice system, each case study brings the chapter concepts to life. Providing students with a more inclusive overview of criminal justice, important and timely topics such as ethics, policy, gender, diversity, and victimization are emphasized throughout. This title is accompanied by a complete teaching and learning package.
