The latest twist in the furious battle of Ferguson is an effort to get Michael Brown’s juvenile criminal records released. According to a report at aol.com, “The citizen journalism website GotNews took St. Louis County authorities to court Wednesday to secure the release of the records because it believes they do not need to be kept private since he is no longer alive.” The reason: speculation that Brown’s juvenile history would yield evidence that not only was he allegedly involved with the Crips street gang but “faced a second-degree murder charge” . . .
GotNews’ editor Charles Johnson claims he was told by cops that Brown’s juvy record indicates that perhaps he wasn’t the mild-mannered aspiring college student he has been portrayed to be by family and friends.
“To find out if those police officers are correct requires seeing Brown’s juvenile arrest record, which ought to be freely available given that he is dead and therefore has no right to privacy remaining,” insists Johnson.
“Knowing the truth about Brown’s past will help us gauge the credibility of his parents and family who have called him a ‘gentle giant.'”
Assuming there’s something there, look for Brown’s family to fight the suit, likely painting the effort as further attempts at “character assassination” as they did the release of the convenience store security footage. And then for Officer Darren Wilson’s attorneys to move for the records to be unsealed if Wilson is tried and Johnson’s efforts are unsuccessful.