Ferguson, MO

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by KDCat

Dorian Johnson's testimony to the grand jury. He was the guy with Mike Brown at the store.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/248126858/...the-Grand-Jury

Darren Wilson speaks about the events of that day:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-p...ry?id=27186946

It's really difficult for me to take one side over another in this case. Their stories completely contradict each other.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by StealthMode

My computer froze and my entire post got deleted.

TL;DR--What makes you feel #4? I'm incredibly surprised to see that comment because every single person I've encountered and comment I've read indicates people feel Wilson should have used a non-lethal way to stop Brown so I can't imagine where that comes from. Care to elaborate?

This is where the problem is, because people assume that in a high adrenalin situation where you've just been attacked and the person who attacked you tried to take your gun and is now charging toward you, you're going to stop and think "I'm going to shoot him in the knee". I think survival instinct causes anybody to just shoot and stop that person in any way possible. Shooting a moving target is also not going to result in shooting them in one specific body part. Brown was almost twice the weight of Wilson and significantly taller. There's no way Wilson would win a physical fight. Once Wilson was unconscious, Brown would have his gun and would then be armed.

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Darren Wilson speaks about the events of that day:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-p...ry?id=27186946

It's really difficult for me to take one side over another in this case. Their stories completely contradict each other.

The eye witness accounts of most incidents contradict each other and the statements of the suspect and police officer in any arrest are going to typically contradict each other. That's why you have to focus on physical evidence. The physical evidence showed pretty clearly that Brown tried to grab Wilson's gun in the car and Wilson shot him in the hand. Brown ran and then turned around and started moving back toward Wilson (blood trails show that). Brown was shot in the front, discrediting accounts that he was walking away. The physical evidence is pretty clear and, from what I've read, there was previous precedent from other court cases.

I don't dispute that there is racism resulting in unfair treatment of suspects by police. I'm not convinced this particular incident is the best example to use to demonstrate it.

[TonyB06]

Originally Posted by AGDee

This is where the problem is, because people assume that in a high adrenalin situation where you've just been attacked and the person who attacked you tried to take your gun and is now charging toward you, you're going to stop and think "I'm going to shoot him in the knee". I think survival instinct causes anybody to just shoot and stop that person in any way possible. Shooting a moving target is also not going to result in shooting them in one specific body part. Brown was almost twice the weight of Wilson and significantly taller. There's no way Wilson would win a physical fight. Once Wilson was unconscious, Brown would have his gun and would then be armed.

And this is where I have a problem. From what I've read and the legal analysis of those I've seen, Wilson was hardly challenged in his GJ testimony. Just seemed like he was allowed to present his version pretty much without challenge.

We've seen the Wilson hospital pictures ands have seen slight discloring on his right cheek -- odd enough for having been hit in the driver's seat of a car (where you'd expect a left cheek strike). As KDCat said, does it make sense to, after running, stop, and then charge the guy that just shot you and has drawn down on you?

Brown was not "twice the weight" of Wilson, nor was he "significantly taller." Both men are and were 6'4". Brown did outweigh Wilson by 70-80 pounds.

At the end of the day, we'll likely never really know what went down out there. It's time for mandatory police body cameras. Period. That way nobody has to take anybody's word for anything anymore.