Attorneys for Michael Brown, Junior’s parents will file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Ferguson and Darren Wilson, the former Ferguson police officer who fatally shot their son.
Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown, Senior, remained silent as they stood behind their attorneys at a press conference one day after the U.S. Justice Department released its reports on the fatal shooting. The Justice Department determined that Brown’s death did not involve prosecutable conduct on the part of Officer Wilson.
Attorney Anthony Gray said the burden of proof for the federal and state investigations is far different than the burden of proof in a civil case.
Lesley McSpadden, (L) and Michael Brown Senior (R) the parents of Michael Brown Junior, listen as family attorney Daryl Parks announced their plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Ferguson and former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri on March 5, 2015. (Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI)
“We do want to announce today that we are officially in a process of formulating a civil case that we anticipate will be filed very shortly on behalf of the family,” said Gray.
Gray said they “obviously disagree” with the findings from the Department of Justice’s investigation.
“At the end of the day, we think that those conclusions were in many ways not in line with our expectations of what we viewed as the evidence of August 9th, 2014,” said Gray.
Gray said the family has always felt that Wilson did not have to shoot Brown and he had other options available.
“We plan to demonstrate in a court of law to reasonable minded people that the choice to use deadly force was unreasonable and unnecessary under those circumstances,” said Gray.
Another attorney for the family, Daryl Parks, says the only encouraging part of the Justice Department’s findings was their assessment of the City of Ferguson.
“It’s important that we remember that the things that they found within the City of Ferguson police department was the same culture that existed the day on August 9th, as officer Darren Wilson met Michael Brown in that street,” said Parks.
The press conference was held at the Greater St. Mark Family Church, which has been a hub for news conferences and rallies related to the unrest in Ferguson.