Michael Brown's family to file wrongful death lawsuit

Lawyers for the family of Michael Brown, the teenager killed last summer in Ferguson, Missouri, said on Thursday they would file a wrongful death civil case on behalf of the family.

“We are officially in the process of formulating a civil case that we anticipate will be filed shortly on behalf of the family,” said Anthony Gray, an attorney for the family.

Brown, 18, was shot dead by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on 9 August 2014. The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that it would not bring federal civil rights charges against Wilson.

Gray spoke with Michael Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr, standing behind him in a Ferguson church.

“In our case we plan to show and outline pretty much the same evidence [as the Justice Department considered]. However, you will get a more clear, a more accurate picture of what took place that day,” Gray said. “We feel and we’ve always felt from the very beginning that officer Darren Wilson did not have to shoot and kill Mike Brown in broad daylight in the manner that he did. That he had other options available to him and that he chose deadly force as his option.

“And we plan to demonstrate in a court of law to reasonable-minded people that choice to use deadly force was unreasonable and unnecessary under those circumstances.

“So we ask that you stay tuned. Once we have a complaint that is fully formulated, it will be available to the public.”

A second attorney for the family, Daryl D Parks, said the decision of federal prosecutors not to charge Wilson did not inform the viability of the planned civil case, because the standard of proof to convict in the two cases was different.

“We don’t have a reasonable doubt standard, it’s going to be a preponderance of facts,” Parks said. “The federal requirement is a very heightened requirement – totally different from the standard we are going to face.”

The appearance followed a statement on Wednesday in which the family called for an end to racial bias and profiling by police “around the country”. “If that change happens, our son’s death will not have been in vain,” the family’s statement said.

The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that it would not file charges over Brown’s death. “This outcome is supported by the facts we have found – but I also know these findings may not be consistent with some people’s expectations,” the attorney general, Eric Holder, said.

The Department of Justice released a second report on Wednesday documenting racist and abusive conduct by Ferguson police officers and city employees. Ferguson police used excessive force – including the use of Tasers, police dogs, and guns pointed at heads – to punish, intimidate and harass civilians the report found.

“The overwhelming majority of force – almost 90% – is directed against African Americans,” Holder said. “This deeply alarming statistic points to one of the most pernicious aspects of the conduct our investigation uncovered: that these policing practices disproportionately harm African American residents.”

The report also found that the city relied on excessive ticketing and fines issued by police to balance the city budget. “The city relies on the police force to serve, essentially, as a collection agency for the municipal court rather than a law enforcement entity,” Holder said.

One Ferguson police employee was fired based on the report and two others were placed on leave, Mayor James Knowles said on Wednesday.