From [HERE] A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's refusal to throw out a lawsuit questioning a Ferguson police officer's use of force against the man who was with Michael Brown when that officer shot Brown to death three years ago.
On April 29, 2015, Johnson filed a lawsuit in state court against Wilson, Jackson, and the City of Ferguson for being stopped by Wilson without probable cause, reasonable suspicion or legal justification to detain him. The lawsuit claimed that according to the findings of the § DOJ investigation into the Ferguson Police Department, law enforcement efforts focused on generating revenue rather than protecting the town's citizens.
Tuesday's 2-1 ruling by an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel sided with Dorian Johnson in concluding that former officer Darren Wilson and ex-chief Thomas Jackson are not immune from such litigation. The court also found that Johnson sufficiently alleged that Wilson violated his rights.
Johnson says that as he walked with Brown on a street on Aug. 9, 2014, Wilson illegally detained him by using his police vehicle to block their path. Moments later, Wilson shot and killed Brown during a struggle. Johnson fled and was not wounded.
Johnson insists in his lawsuit that Wilson "acted with deliberate indifference or reckless disregard" for Johnson's rights, used excessive force and essentially detained him unlawfully by using his police vehicle to impede his movement.
The 8th Circuit on Tuesday agreed, with Judge Michael Melloy writing for the panel's majority that based on Johnson's version "the law was sufficiently clear" that "a reasonable officer in Officer Wilson's position would not have shot his gun."
The 8th Circuit's Roger Wollman countered that Johnson's movements were not illegally restrained by Wilson and that the lawsuit should be thrown out, likening Johnson's flight to that "of a moonshine-carrying" defendant.
The death of 18-year-old Brown, who was black and unarmed, by the white officer launched months of protests and led to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found racial bias in Ferguson's police and court system. But a St. Louis County grand jury and the Justice Department cleared Wilson, who resigned in November 2014.
Ferguson reached a settlement with the Justice Department that calls for revised police practices, court changes and other modifications.
In June, a federal judge in St. Louis approved a $1.5 million settlement to Brown's parents in their 2015 wrongful-death lawsuit against Ferguson, Wilson and Jackson, who each denied wrongdoing.
Johnson's lawsuit alleges Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, and Jackson condoned unconstitutional police policies that breached his civil rights, including failing to properly train and supervise officers. Johnson also claims Wilson's actions caused him emotional distress.
Melloy wrote in Tuesday's ruling that "just as a passenger would understand that no one in the car is free to leave during a traffic stop, one of two pedestrians stopped by a single police roadblock would understand that he was not free to leave, even if the officer only directly engaged with the other pedestrian."
"Officer Wilson's show of authority did not single out Brown as he walked alongside Johnson," Melloy added.
Johnson, a friend of Brown, who was with him that day, gave his account of the incident to media outlets in August and testified before the grand jury in September. In media interviews, Johnson said that Wilson pulled up beside them and said, "Get the f— on the sidewalk." The young men replied that they were "not but a minute away from [their] destination, and [they] would shortly be out of the street". Wilson drove forward without saying anything further and abruptly backed up, positioning his vehicle crosswise in their path. Wilson tried to open his door aggressively and the door ricocheted off both of their bodies and closed back on Wilson. Wilson, still in his vehicle, grabbed Brown around his neck through the open window, and Brown tried to pull away, but Wilson continued to pull Brown toward him "like tug of war". Johnson stated that Brown "did not reach for the officer's weapon at all", and was attempting to get free, when Wilson drew his weapon and said, "I'll shoot you" or "I'm going to shoot", and fired his weapon hitting Brown.
Following the initial gunshot, Brown freed himself, and the two fled. Wilson exited the vehicle, and fired several rounds at the fleeing Brown, hitting him once in the back.Brown turned around with his hands raised and said, "I don't have a gun. Stop shooting!" Wilson then shot Brown several more times, killing him.
In his testimony to the grand jury, Johnson said that he and Brown had walked to a convenience store to buy cigarillos, but Brown instead reached over the counter and took them and shoved a clerk on his way out the door. Johnson testified that on their walk back home, Brown had the cigarillos in his hands in plain sight and that two Ferguson police cars passed them, but did not stop. When Wilson encountered them, he told the two to "get the fuck on the sidewalk" and Johnson told him they would be off the street shortly as they were close to their destination. Johnson testified that Wilson was the aggressor from the beginning and that for no apparent reason, he backed his vehicle up and tried to open his door, but Brown shut it, preventing him from getting out. Johnson said that Wilson then reached out and grabbed Brown by the neck and the two were engaged in a "tug of war", and Wilson said "I'll shoot". Johnson said he never saw Brown hit Wilson and did not think Brown grabbed for Wilson's gun, but that a shot was fired.[139][140] At that point, Johnson said they both ran and Wilson fired while Brown was running away, and that Brown turned around and "at that time Big Mike's hands was up, but not so much in the air, because he had been struck". Johnson told the jurors that Brown said "I don't have a gun" and that he was mad and tried to say again "I don't have a gun", but "before he can say the second sentence or before he can even get it out, that's when the several more shots came." In his testimony, Johnson maintained that Brown did not run at Wilson prior to the fatal shots. [MORE]