JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Michael Brown, the teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer last month in Ferguson, Mo., had no convictions or active cases for any of the most serious types of felonies in juvenile court before his death, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Post-Dispatch has sued for the release of Brown’s juvenile records, as the newspaper tried to figure out the 18-year-old’s legal history.
Cynthia Harcourt, director of the St. Louis County Family Court’s legal department, “argued against releasing those records, but acknowledged that there were no convictions or active cases for the most serious types of felonies,” according to the Post-Dispatch, which continued:
Class A felonies include second-degree murder and first-degree robbery; the penalties in adult court range from 10 years in prison to death. Class B felonies include voluntary manslaughter, second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, with a maximum penalty of five to 15 years.
It is not known whether Brown had ever been accused of lesser offenses; any record of those would be part of a confidential family court file.In a phone interview with The Post, Harcourt said that Class A and Class B felonies would have been a matter of public record regardless. She couldn’t confirm or deny whether a juvenile record existed for Brown.
Here’s what Post-Dispatch reporter Jeremy Kohler tweeted from Wednesday’s hearing:
Brown, 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. His death in the St. Louis suburb led to protests and unrest in the area.
An online journalist, Charles C. Johnson, also filed suit for the records. You can read his court filing below, which mentions a rumor that Brown had a significant juvenile record:
Lawsuit to Release Michael Brown Juvenile Record by gotnewsdocs
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