Department of Justice Report Regarding the Criminal Investigation into the Shooting Death of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri

At approximately noon on Saturday, August 9, 2014, Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department ("FPD") shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old. The Criminal Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") (collectively, "The Department") subsequently opened a criminal investigation into whether the shooting violated federal law. The Department has determined that the evidence does not support charging a violation of federal law. This memorandum details the Department's investigation, findings, and conclusions. Part I provides an introduction and overview. Part II summarizes the federal investigation and the evidence uncovered during the course of the investigation, and discusses the applicable federal criminal civil rights law and standards of federal prosecution. Part III provides a more in-depth summary of the evidence. Finally, Part IV provides a detailed legal analysis of the evidence and explains why the evidence does not support an indictment of Darren Wilson. Based on this investigation, the Department has concluded that Darren Wilson's actions do not constitute prosecutable violations under the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute, 18 U.S.C. 242, which prohibits uses of deadly force that are "objectively unreasonable," as defined by the United States Supreme Court. The evidence, when viewed as a whole, does not support the conclusion that Wilson's uses of deadly force were "objectively unreasonable" under the Supreme Court's definition. Accordingly, under the governing federal law and relevant standards set forth in the USAM, it is not appropriate to present this matter to a federal grand jury for indictment, and it should therefore be closed without prosecution. I. Introduction * II. Summary of the Evidence, Investigation, and Applicable Law * A. Summary of the Evidence * B. Initial Law Enforcement Investigation * C. Legal Summary * 1. The Law Governing Uses of Deadly Force by a Law Enforcement Officer * i. The Shootings Were Not Objectively Unreasonable Uses of Force Under 18 U.S.C. 242 * ii. Wilson Did Not Willfully Violate Brown's Constitutional Right to Be Free from Unreasonable Force * III. Summary of the Evidence * A. Darren Wilson's Account * B. Physical and Forensic Evidence * 1. Crime Scene * 2. Autopsy Findings * 3. DNA Analysis * 4. Dispatch Recordings * 5. Ballistics * i. Wilson's Firearm and Projectiles Fired * ii. Projectile Recovered from SUV * iii. Gunshot Residue on Brown's Shirt * 6. Fingerprints * 7. Audio Recording of Shots Fired * 8. Wilson's Medical Records * 9. Brown's Toxicology * 10. Ferguson Market Surveillance Video * C. Witness Accounts * 1. Witnesses Materially Consistent with Prior Statements, Physical Evidence, and Other Witnesses and Therefore, Give Credible Accounts * i. Witnesses Materially Consistent with Prior Statements, Physical Evidence, and Other Witnesses Who Corroborate That Wilson Acted in Self-Defense * ii. Witnesses Consistent with Prior Statements, Physical Evidence, and Other Witnesses Who Inculpate Wilson * 2. Witnesses Who Neither Inculpate Nor Fully Corroborate Wilson * 3. Witnesses Whose Accounts Do Not Support a Prosecution Due to Materially Inconsistent Prior Statements, or Inconsistencies With the Physical and Forensic Evidence * IV. Legal Analysis * A. Legal Standard * B. Uses of Force * 1. Shooting at the SUV * 2. Wilson's Subsequent Pursuit of Brown and Shots Allegedly Fired as Brown was Moving Away * 3. Shots Fired After Brown Turned to Face Wilson * C. Willfulness * VI. Conclusion