FERGUSON lawsuit Lawyers clash over document release

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, MO.

Defense attorneys in the wrongful-death lawsuit by Michael Brown’s parents cite recent ambushes of police in Texas and Louisiana among reasons against expanding who can see sensitive grand jury details related to Brown’s 2014 death in Ferguson.

A St. Louis federal judge agreed in June to let no more than two attorneys for the defense and each of Brown’s parents see testimony and the names of witnesses from proceedings involving a St. Louis County grand jury that investigated the Aug. 9, 2014, fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson. The grand jury declined to indict Wilson, and the U.S. Justice Department later cleared him, concluding that he had acted in self-defense. Wilson resigned in November 2014.

Brown’s death led to months of sometimes- violent protests in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. It also was a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, which rebukes police treatment of minorities and has grown after several other killings of black men and boys by police.

Brown’s parents are suing Wilson, the city of Ferguson and its former police chief, Thomas Jackson.

U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber’s “protective order” spelling out terms of the records release marked the first time someone other than a prosecutor or grand juror will see uncensored details of the secret proceedings.

Brown’s mother, Lezley McSpadden, has asked Judge Webber to let three more of her attorneys see the grand jury information.