Autopsy Released . . . Opens Door to Further Questions About Brown Shooting

by Kim D. 

Should police wear body cameras? In light of what we are witnessing in Ferguson, MO, the answer should be, most definitely, yes. The division in this country is so great that police will not be able to effectively do their jobs without fear of possible prosecution. The time has come for police to wear cameras with cloud-based storage, making it impossible to delete or edit a recording.

Too much speculation surrounds the use of deadly force against Michael Brown. Conflicting eye-witness accounts have been running rampant on the streets of Ferguson and on the Internet. Some claim Brown was running away from police when he was fatally shot. Some say he was giving himself up to police with arms raised. Others claim he was charging at the police when shots were fired.

Today Brown’s family held a press conference to discuss the independent autopsy performed by Dr. Baden and his findings. The results of this now published, second autopsy prompt more questions than they answer. The first autopsy, which has not been published and probably will not be until it has been determined if the officer involved should be prosecuted, was conducted by the county medical examiner, whom Dr. Baden praised as an expert in her field. Only the first autopsy had access to the body, blood, and clothing Brown was wearing. 

Without being able to test the clothes for gunshot residue or the blood for drugs, all Dr. Baden’s examination could reveal is a) Brown was shot six times, b) all gun shots were survivable except for the final one which entered the top of Brown’s head, c) Brown did not experience prolonged suffering from his wounds. According to Dr. Baden, common sense indicates that the arm wounds were first and head shots were last, but science cannot tell exactly what happened.

However, these facts did not stop the Brown family lawyers from asserting Officer Wilson used excessive force and murdered 18-year-old Mike Brown. One lawyer, Daryl Parks, claims the two head shots are key to understanding what happened during the shooting incident. Parks asserted that the fatal shot to the top of the head indicates that Brown’s head was in a downward position. This, the lawyer pronounced, is ample evidence that Brown was surrendering to police. 

Really?  Or, perhaps, could it indicate that Brown was falling toward the ground due to previous shots to the arm and head? Oh well, maybe Eric Holder's third autopsy will be able to provide more insight (possible but not likely).