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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Judge Refuses Requests|for Michael Brown’s Records

CLAYTON, Mo. (CN) - A St. Louis County circuit judge has denied two media requests to release Michael Brown's juvenile records.

In two separate motions, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a California Internet news blog sought to have the records released.

Family Court Judge Ellen Levy Siwak denied both requests Tuesday without stating a reason.

Brown, an unarmed African-American 18-year-old, was shot to death by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer, on Aug. 9. Brown's shooting led to weeks of often violent protests on the streets of Ferguson.

The Post-Dispatch argued that there was a heavy public interest in learning about Brown's background and that there was no reason after his death to protect his juvenile records.

Cynthia Harcourt, a lawyer for county juvenile officer Kip Seely, had contested the release of any records during a Sept. 3 hearing. Harcourt confirmed to a Post-Dispatch reporter after the hearing that Brown had never been found guilty of nor was he facing any of the juvenile equivalents of class A or class B felonies when he died.

That confirmation put to rest claims by a California internet blog that Brown was facing murder charges when he was shot.

It is still not known if Brown had been convicted of or was facing lesser charges when he died.

Brown's family attorney refused to discuss whether Brown even had a juvenile record and called it an attempt at character sabotage after the Sept. 3 hearing, according to KTVI-TV.

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