The pickup driver saw Wilson pause

Pickup Driver was sitting in a pickup truck that was stopped northwest of Darren Wilson's police vehicle. He was near-sighted but was not wearing eyeglasses. He was trying to maneuver to make a U-turn to depart back toward West Florissant Drive. The U-turn was difficult, because he was boxed in by cars behind and in front of him.

Black = Pickup Truck
Green = Minivan
Blue = Police Vehicle
Red = Monte Carlo

Pickup Driver thought that he saw only Michael Brown -- never Dorian Johnson -- during the incident. Pickup Driver did see Johnson behind the Monte Carlo, but thought he saw Brown there. Pickup Driver thought mistakenly that Brown ran from the police vehicle and paused behind the Monte Carlo, leaning on its trunk, on the curb side. 

Apparently, Pickup Driver looked away from Brown for a moment -- looking instead for a U-turn route that would not collide with the minivan in front of him -- while Brown was running away from the police vehicle. Then, when Pickup Driver looked back toward Brown, he saw Johnson and mistook him for Brown. 

-------

In Pickup Driver's confused narration, he indicated that Wilson ran past Brown (i.e. Johnson) and then paused and turned back, seeming to focus on Brown (i.e Johnson). Pickup Driver told a detective:

And then all of sudden I heard the shot, POW, and then the boy took off and ran .... about two three car-lengths and put his hands on the back of a brown -- I think it was a -- Mercury. .... 

Then the officer got out of the truck. He had his gun down to the side. He going down-side from the driveway, though he going back to the truck, like trying to keep him in sight, and then boy took his hands off the truck.

[Page 11]

The brown Mercury was the white Monte Carlo, which was about one car-length behind the police vehicle. The person with his hands on the car's back was Johnson, not Brown. 

The expression going down-side from the driveway meant that Wilson ran beyond the parking lot's driveway -- beyond the Mercury (i.e. Monte Carlo). 

The expression he going back to the truck, like trying to keep him in sight describes Wilson's pause. The truck was the police vehicle. The expression trying to keep him in sight indicates that Wilson glanced back at Brown (i.e. Johnson), who was standing behind the Mercury (i.e. the Monte Carlo).  

In other words, Pickup Driver was distracted by his effort to make a U-turn, and so he came to misunderstand the situation, which he could not see well, because he was near-sighted and was not wearing glasses. Pickup Driver thought that Brown ran behind the Monte Carlo and leaned on its trunk. Then Wilson walked past the Monte Carlo and Brown. Wilson walked some distance further and then paused and looked back at Brown. 

At that point, Pickup Driver distracted himself again, trying to make a U-turn. Then when he looked again down Canfield Drive, he saw Brown moving northwest toward Wilson (back toward Pickup Driver). 

--------

Thus, Pickup Driver described Wilson's pause, which was described also by Fiancée Brady ...

The officer [Wilson] was walking behind him [Brown] steady, opening fire, shooting. ....  

I asked my fiancé, I said, "Well, I guess the guy [Brown] got away, because I don't see him [Wilson] walking anymore."  

[Pages 1-3]

.... and by Michael Brady .... 

The guy with the dreads [Johnson] was the [my] main focus, as I'm still noticing that the officer is shooting straight [at Brown's back], but I'm looking at him [Johnson] because I'm thinking the officer is [inaudible]. 

There is a pause by the time he [Wilson] went past [the Monte Carlo]. There is a pause right there during his shooting, when I was thinking  he [Wilson] was going to go to his [Brown's] friend [Johnson] and shoot him [Johnson]. That's why I was mainly focusing on him [Johnson] at that point. 

[Pages 33 - 34] 

None of these three witnesses -- Pickup Driver, Fiancée Brady or Michael Brady -- saw that Wilson's pause coincided with Brown's stopping and turning around at Coppercreek Court. Therefore, all three deduced mistakenly that Wilson paused in order to look back at Johnson and the Monte Carlo. 

Wilson himself said later that he never paid any attention to Johnson or the Monte Carlo. It is likely that Wilson indeed did pause and look back behind himself to check that general area. Seeing no threats in his rear, Wilson then turned back toward Brown for their final confrontation. 

This pause was not described by three other witnesses -- Dorian Johnson, MC Owner or MC Passenger. At the moment of Wilson's pause, those three were preoccupied with hiding Johnson down in front of the Monte Carlo's front passenger seat.  

------

Below are more of Pickup Driver's statements about Wilson's chase and pause. 

Pickup Driver told a detective that Brown ran to a car that was only a couple of car-lengths beyond the police vehicle.

Black male took off running. He ran down the street. In my mind, I thought he maybe got hit, because he couldn't run that far. He run about maybe three car-lengths or two. There was a brown car sitting there. He put his hand on the back of the brown car. Then the officer got out the truck. ....

I heard the shot, and then the boy took off and ran about two, three car lengths and put his hands on the back of a brown -- I think it was a -- Mercury. .... And then the officer got out of the truck.

[Pages 3 and 11]

Pickup Driver told the grand jury that Brown paused behind the car, on the curb side.

Pickup Driver  I see Michael hit him [Wilson] a couple times, and then all of the sudden I see the officer lean over, one of his hands disappear.

Then ... I heard a shot, POW, and Mike Brown took off running.

Prosecutor  What did Michael Brown do when you heard POW?

Pickup Driver  He took off running.

And then the officer got out of his truck, and the officer had his gun down to his side like that. Looked like the officer was reaching up to his thing he had on his shirt that he talked through.

Then the kid ran a piece off. And he stopped, he was behind a car, looked like he had both of his hands on the car ... Michael Brown.

And then the officer was coming towards him and then look like Michael Brown started coming back towards the officer.

That's the last I saw of him. I was turned around like this, I was backing out, turned around. I seen it was clear. I took off. I heard three more shots right before I started forward, like pow, pow, pow, like that.

That was the last that I saw until I heard the rest on the news.

[Pages 23 - 25] 

Pickup Driver  Michael Brown probably run about two-and-a-half car-lengths or maybe three, something like that. ....

Prosecutor  Was Michael Brown running or was he walking?

Pickup Driver  He was running. And then it looked like he couldn't go no further. He stopped and put his hand on the back of the car.

I recall that car was brown or gold or something like that, as far as I can recall.
It looked like Michael Brown .... took his hands off the car and was coming towards the officer. ...

Michael Brown was running and he [Wilson] is coming behind him. It look like Michael Brown just got tired all at once or couldn't run no further, and put his hand on the back of the car.

And then the police still coming at him. He [Brown] took his hand off the car and was walking a towards the police ... walking or running, I'm not sure, but he was coming towards the officer and that's the last I saw. ....

Prosecutor  When you saw Michael Brown, you said he ran a good piece, and then he stopped and he put his hands on the back of the car.  Was this a car that was in the roadway?

Pickup Driver  Yes, it was parked [facing] back towards West Florissant. ...

Prosecutor  Did it appear that it was parked out in the street?

Pickup Driver  It was stopped like somebody stayed there.

Prosecutor  Like somebody else who had to stop?

Pickup Driver  No, there was no one in that car, I remember that. ... I didn't see anyone in that car. ....

Prosecutor  Was it regular car or an SUV or a van?

Pickup Driver  It look something like a Mercury, one of the older Mercuries. ...

Prosecutor  Michael Brown put both of his hands on the back of that car?

Pickup Driver  Right. ...

Prosecutor  Michael Brown was a tall guy, a big guy. ... When you say the back of the car, was it like on the trunk area?

Pickup Driver  Right, it was on the trunk. ... 

Prosecutor  When he was staying there with his hands on the trunk of the car, did the officer continue to move toward him?

Pickup Driver  The officer continued towards him. .... 

He [Brown] is behind the car, but right on the edge. .... He was on this side ... toward the curb. .... It looked like he got tired. .....

Prosecutor  There was a car in front of you, and you were worried about hitting that car, right?

Pickup Driver  Right, before I turned around. I was turning around. 

[Pages 27 - 35]

.

Pickup Driver said Johnson was not standing by Brown

A 58-year-old African-American male driving a pickup truck east on Canfield Drive saw the incident when his path was blocked by Darren Wilson's police vehicle. The grand jury designated him as Witness 34, and the US Justice Department designated him as Witness 103. I will call him Pickup Driver.

The US Justice Department's report about the shooting concluded that Pickup Driver was a credible witness.

.... he ultimately testified consistently with his original account, with the physical and forensic evidence, and with other credible witness accounts. ....

After a thorough review of all the evidence, federal prosecutors determined his account to be credible and likewise determined that a jury appropriately would credit his potential testimony. 

[Pages 29 - 30]

Pickup Driver had been driving southeast on Canfield Drive but stopped when his path was blocked by the Wilson's police vehicle. Pickup Driver was looking at the vehicle's driver-side door, where Brown was attacking Wilson through the window. Pickup Driver did not see Dorian Johnson anywhere.

However, after Pickup Driver drove away from the scene, he discussed the incident with his passenger, whom I will call Pickup Passenger. The latter remarked that he had seen another African-American male behind the police vehicle. 

Pickup Driver was questioned by a detective and some FBI special agents on September 3, 2014. On that occasion, he said that he was the only person in the pickup and that he himself had seen another, smaller African-American male standing behind the police vehicle on its passenger side. After the first gunshot, this other, smaller person ran away north. (See pages 3, 7, 16-18.) Everything that Pickup Driver said during that interview about this other person (about Dorian Johnson) was based entirely on what he remembered Pickup Passenger telling him. 

When Pickup Driver testified to the grand jury, he admitted that a passenger was in the pickup with him and that only this passenger allegedly had seen the other person standing behind the police vehicle. Pickup Driver now clarified to the grand jury that he himself had seen only Brown. 

Investigators learned about the existence of Pickup Passenger for the first time during Pickup Worker's grand-jury testimony. Investigators subsequently contacted Pickup Passenger, but he refused to answer any questions.

------

In his testimony to the grand jury, Pickup Driver described his location during the incident. He stopped behind a white car* and near a driveway (where he eventually was able to turn around for his departure).  

Pickup Driver told the grand jury that Brown was the only person in the police vehicle's vicinity. 

Pickup Driver  I was coming from West Florissant.....  

Prosecutor  Were you with someone in your [pickup truck]? 

Pickup Driver  Yes, one of the guys that work with me.  

Prosecutor  Was he going to work with you that day? 

Pickup Driver  Yes. 

Prosecutor  Is he African-American or is he Caucasian? 

Pickup Driver  African-American 

Prosecutor  As you entered, [as you] were coming into the Canfield Green Apartment Complex, did you see anything unusual? 

Pickup Driver  Yes, when we got turned into Canfield, coming up Canfield, all of the sudden, a van is parked kind-of across the street and there is a [white] car in front of us. And we saw the police and a young man struggling. ..... 

There was one car right in front of me when I was there. 

Prosecutor  You were facing the police car? 

Pickup Driver  Right. 

Prosecutor  And his police car was facing you? 

Pickup Driver  Right, like [the police car was] coming back toward West Florissant. 

Prosecutor  Was that police car -- when you first saw it -- was it moving or was it standing still? 

Pickup Driver  It was sitting still, but it was kind of across the street, so nobody can really get by.  

Prosecutor  So did you have to stop your car? 

Pickup Driver  Yes, yes, we had to stop. 

Prosecutor  And the car in front of you -- was it stopped also? 

Pickup Driver  Yes, it was stopped. 

Prosecutor  Do you remember anything about the car in front of you? 

Pickup Driver  It was white  .... 

NS = Near-Sighted       PD = Pickup Driver      WC = White Car
PV = Police Vehicle      MC = Monte Carlo
Pickup Driver and the the White Car eventually turned around in the nearby driveway

Prosecutor  Could you see the people in the white car -- people or person?

Pickup Driver  I wasn't really paying attention to them, you know, I don't remember seeing them. I was looking at the police truck really.

Prosecutor  What did you see at the police truck?

Pickup Driver  The police and the young man, they were struggling. The young man [Brown] was standing outside the window. The police inside the window, and he had ahold of the young man, and the young man had ahold of him, and they are struggling with one another.

Prosecutor Could you see the police officer inside the truck?

Pickup Driver I could see him, but not clearly. I could see him.

Prosecutor  How many police officers were inside the truck?

Pickup Driver  As far as I could tell, one.

Prosecutor  Now you say there was a young man standing outside the truck? Was he the only other person you saw outside or around the truck?

Pickup Driver Yes, he was the only person that I really saw by the police.

Prosecutor  Can you describe anything about the man that was standing outside the truck?

Pickup Driver  As far as I could tell, he was a young man, tall. At the time, I couldn't really see him clearly. I could see he was a black young male standing there. 

I turned to Mr. [Pickup Passenger]. I said: "Man, you see this? We've got to get out of here." ....

I didn't want to get blocked in. I had an appointment to be at.  ....

The next thing I heard was a shot, pow, and then the young man took off running.

[pages 10 - 16]

Later in Pickup Driver's testimony to the grand jury, however, the prosecutor challenged Pickup Driver to confirm that he saw only Brown by the police vehicle. Pickup Driver wavered. 

Prosecutor  Do you remember seeing another young African-American guy at or near those cars that you described? 

Pickup Driver  I can't remember if there was somebody else there or not. [I remember] only the somebody [Brown] I seen. I can't really remember. 

[Pages 38 - 39]

Later in the testimony to the grand jury, the prosecutor confronted Pickup Driver with the transcript of the interview that had taken place on September 3 (the grand jury testimony was on October 16, 2014). In that previous interview, Pickup Driver had told a detective and some FBI special agents that ""there was just him [Brown] and there was another black guy standing back behind the police car."

The conversation between Pickup Driver and the prosecutor continued in front of the grand jury as follows:

Pickup Driver If I said it, you know, like it is true. I do have a problem with my memory sometimes.I can't tell you what I ate for breakfast this morning. ....
Really, I can't remember the other guy [Johnson].

The gentleman with me [Pickup Passenger] told me. We had talked about it, and he said: "There was one black guy that was standing back there by the car also."  

If I said it [about Johnson] to them [the detective and the FBI special agent] at that time [on September 3], that's what I said.

Prosecutor  So when you spoke to the federal agents and the county detective back on September 3rd, were you telling them as best you could what you remember from that day?

Pickup Driver  As best I could, right.

Prosecutor  Were you truthful about everything as best you could?

Pickup Driver  I was truthful about everything that  I remember, that I could remember. ....

[Pages 41 - 42]

Many witnesses in this case told investigators that they themselves had seen things that actually had been told to them by other people. Ultimately, Pickup Driver indicated to the grand jury that he himself had not seen a second man (Johnson) standing behind the police vehicle -- rather, only his passenger had seen the second man. 

--------

In previous articles, I have pointed out that an eyewitness whom I call Stairwell Man saw "the white car turn around in the street". This white car in front of the pickup truck -- not the white Monte Carlo -- might be the white car that Stairwell Man saw turn around, at the end of the incident. 

Near-Sighted said Johnson ran away before the first gunshot

Dorian Johnson told to the public and then to the investigators and then to the grand jury a false story that he remained next to Michael Brown until after Police Officer Darren Wilson fired his first gunshot from inside the police vehicle. However, several eyewitnesses said that Johnson ran away before the first gunshot, and several other eyewitnesses said that Brown was the only person standing next to the vehicle when the first gunshot was fired. 

--------

The best eyewitness about Johnson’s first movements immediately after the encounter at the police vehicle was a 20-year-old African-American female. She is identified in the Justice Department’s report as Witness 135 and in the grand jury documents as Witness 44.

Since she was significantly near-sighted and was not wearing her eyeglasses or contact lenses, I will call her Near-Sighted here. Her location during the incident is marked by the NS in the upper-left part of this image:

NS = Near-Sighted .... PV = Police Vehicle ..... MC = Monte Carlo
Verticalish red line on left side = Near-Sighted's path home after the shooting
Horizontalish red line in the middle = Johnson's flight direction, according to Near-Sighted

Near-Sighted was walking on the sidewalk along the south side of Canfield Drive.She was passing the last tree there and then intended to turn south and cut across the lawn to her apartment building (see the verticalish red line on the left side of the photograph). 

When she reached the last tree, however, she stopped to watch Wilson's police vehicle, which was stopped in the middle of the street. She saw Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson beyond the police vehicle, walking away in the middle of the street. She then watched the police vehicle back up and stop across both lanes, blocking Brown's and Johnson's path. At this moment, she then was standing in the place marked NS, and Wilson's police vehicle was standing in the place marked PV. 

Now Near-Sighted was looking at the police vehicle's driver side, next to which Brown and Johnson were standing with their backs to her. Although she was near-sighted and was not wearing her eyeglasses or contact lenses, she was close enough to perceive Brown's and Johnson's basic actions at the police vehicle.  

Near-Sighted did not mention any car being behind the police vehicle. 

Near-Sighted's description of the event contradicts Johnson's description in two important elements. 

* She said that he ran away from the police vehicle before the first gunshot was fired inside the vehicle. He said that he ran away after that gunshot.

* She said that he ran a considerable distance far down Canfield Drive. He said that he ran straight to the nearby Monte Carlo.  

-----

On October 28, Near-Sighted testified to the grand jury and described her location as follows: 

Prosecutor  Give us an idea of how you were moving and what was going on ...? 

 Near-Sighted  … I did come down this street [southeast along Canfield Drive]. I didn't actually stop until I got like to the last tree. That’s when I was pretty close enough to see what was going on. 

 Prosecutor  That's on the south side of Canfield? 

 Near-Sighted  Yes, ma'am. …. I saw the police car sitting about here. I was about right here [at the last tree] when I first stop to get a look, when they were at the car. The first shot [was fired when] I was right here. 

(Pages 50-51)

Immediately after the police vehicle backed up and stopped across both lanes, Brown was standing near the vehicle's back end. Brown immediately rushed forward to the driver's door and began his assault on Wilson. Johnson stood by for a while, but then ran around the vehicle's back end and continued running away on Canfield Drive.

Prosecutor  Did the little guy [Johnson] seem to be helping [Brown at the vehicle]? 

 Near-Sighted  No. 

 Prosecutor  Did you notice him [Johnson]? 

 Near-Sighted  He was standing there for a while, but once they [Brown and Wilson] started fighting, he [Johnson] just ran. 

 Prosecutor  Was he next to Michael Brown on the same [driver’s] side of the car? 

 Near-Sighted  Yeah, he [Johnson's] was on the same side of the car, still at the back of it. 

(Page 17)

-----

In her first interview, with FBI special agents on August 16, Near-Sighted summarized the sequence of events. Johnson ran away before the first gunshot in the vehicle and ran away down Canfield Drive -- in the same direction that Brown ran subsequently.  

I saw the officer back his van up and hit the two boys. Immediately his [Brown's] friend [Johnson] took off, and Mike started fighting with the officer through his window. I don't know why they were fighting through the window but then you heard the first shot and all the cars on the street stopped. They started backing up. Then he [Brown] started running. He stopped halfway and turned around, and that's when you heard the rest of the shots. 

(Page 2)

Near-Sighted was standing near an eyewitness whom I call Pickup Driver and who did try to back up. Later in that same FBI interview, she summarized again the sequence of events:

The first thing that I saw was the police car. Usually you don't see a police car over here unless something's happening. The first thing I saw was the police car sitting out there, and I saw the two boys. I don't know what he [Wilson] said to them but then I saw him back up in a slant and hit them. They were .... on the street, and he backed up on a slant . That's what caught my attention. I'm like: "what's going on, looking down there?" 

I saw the boy [Brown] get mad and come around to the window, and that's when everything happened. 

His friend just took off running. He didn't stick around to see what was going on. .... His friend ran down the street.  

(Pages 4-5)

Still later in that same FBI interview, she summarized again the sequence of events:

FBI Special Agent  So, you said that after he [Wilson] bumped into the two guys, one [Johnson] ran away. Did he run around the front of the car or the rear? 

Near-Sighted  He went around the back. 

FBI Special Agent  Around the back of the car? 

Near-Sighted  Yeah. ..... He ran away from West Florissant .... down Canfield. ..... 

The other boy [Brown] stayed and started fighting. ..... You saw them get in some type of physical altercation for about 15 seconds. Then you heard the first gunshot. 

(Pages 7-8)

When Brown ran away from the police vehicle, he ran in the same direction as Johnson had run.

Near-Sighted  When I heard the first shot, his [Wilson's] door was closed. His shot came through his window. .... It was inside of the car. ..... 

He [Brown] ran not but about four or five steps, and then he stopped. .... He [Brown] was going in the same direction as his friend [Johnson] was going away from the car .... 

FBI Special Agent  Did he [Brown] run around the front of the car or around the back of the car? 

Near-Sighted  He was already at the driver's side window, so he just started going away from the car, towards the back. 

(Page 10) 

-----

Near-Sighted's statements are compelling evidence for the following two points. 

1) Johnson ran away from the police vehicle a considerable time -- she said about 15 seconds -- before the first gunshot was fired inside the police vehicle. 

2) Johnson ran away a considerable distance down Canfield Drive. He did not run directly to any car immediately behind the police vehicle. 

Witnesses Who Did See the Killing

The Department of Justice Report Regarding the Criminal Investigation Into the Shooting Death of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson was published on March 4, 2015, seven months after the incident, which occurred on August 9, 2014. 

The report's two most important passages were (emphasis added):

Wilson’s account was consistent with those results [the autopsy, DNA, and ballistic results], and consistent with the accounts of other independent witnesses, whose accounts were also consistent with the physical evidence. Wilson’s statements were consistent with each other in all material ways, and would not be subject to effective impeachment for inconsistencies or deviation from the physical evidence. 

Therefore, in analyzing all of the evidence, federal prosecutors found Wilson’s account to be credible. (Page 16)

and

The evidence establishes that the shots fired by Wilson after Brown turned around were in self-defense and were not objectively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. (Page 82)

--------

Wilson was exonerated because seven black and bi-racial witnesses confirmed Wilson's description of Brown charging persistently at him. Their testimony accorded with the physical evidence -- blood droppings and ejected bullet cartridges -- that marked Brown's charge and Wilson's retreat. Therefore the Obama Administration's Justice Department found that the following seven witnesses were credible (emphasis added).

Witness 102 is a 27-year-old bi-racial male. .... 

Witness 102 explained that it made no sense to him why Brown turned around. Brown did not get on the ground or put his hands up in surrender. In fact, Witness 102 told investigators that he knew “for sure that [Brown's] hands were not above his head.” Rather, Brown made some type of movement similar to pulling his pants up or a shoulder shrug, and then “charged” at Wilson. 

It was only then that Wilson fired five or six shots at Brown. Brown paused and appeared to flinch, and Wilson stopped firing. However, Brown charged at Wilson again, and again Wilson fired about three or four rounds until Brown finally collapsed on the ground. Witness 102 was in disbelief that Wilson seemingly kept missing because Brown kept advancing forward. Witness 102 described Brown as a “threat,” moving at a “full charge”. Witness 102 stated that Wilson only fired shots when Brown was coming at Wilson. 

All of Witness 102's statements were materially consistent with each other, with physical and forensic evidence, and with other credible witness accounts. Witness 102 does not have a criminal history. Therefore, if called as a defense witness in a prosecution of Darren Wilson, this witness's account would not be vulnerable to meaningful cross-examination and would not be subject to impeachment due to bias or inconsistencies in his prior statements. 

Therefore, after a thorough review of all the evidence, federal prosecutors determined his account to be credible and likewise determined that a jury appropriately would credit his potential testimony. (Pages 28-29)

and

Witness 103 is a 58-year-old black male. .... 

Brown turned around to face Wilson. Brown’s hands were then down at his sides. Witness 103 did not see Brown’s hands up. Wanting to leave, Witness 103 began to turn his car around …. when he heard additional shots. Witness 103 turned to his right and saw Brown “moving fast” toward Wilson. Witness 103 then drove away. 

He ultimately testified consistently with his original account, with the physical and forensic evidence, and with other credible witness accounts. Therefore, if called as a defense witness, in a federal prosecution of Darren Wilson, Witness 103 would be subject to limited impeachment for his two felony convictions ... but his apparent antipathy toward law enforcement would bolster testimony that corroborates Wilson. 

Accordingly, after a thorough review of all the evidence, federal prosecutors determined his account to be credible and likewise determined that a jury appropriately would credit his potential testimony. (Pages 29-30)

and

Witness 104 is a 26-year-old bi-racial [black mother, white father] female. .... 

Brown then turned around and “for a second” began to raise his hands as though he may have considered surrendering, but then quickly “balled up his fists” in a running position and “charged” at Wilson. Witness 104 described it as a “tackle run”, explaining that Brown “wasn’t going to stop.” 

Wilson fired his gun only as Brown charged at him, backing up as Brown came toward him. Witness 104 explained that there were three separate volleys of shots. Each time, Brown ran toward Wilson, Wilson fired, Brown paused, Wilson stopped firing, and then Brown charged again. The pattern continued until Brown fell to the ground ….. Wilson did not fire while Brown momentarily had his hands up. Witness 104 explained that it took some time for Wilson to fire, adding that she “would have fired sooner.” 

All three of Witness 104's statements were consistent with each other, consistent with the physical and forensic evidence, and consistent with other credible witness accounts. Witness 104 does not have a criminal history. Therefore, if called as a defense witness in a prosecution of Darren Wilson, this witness's account would not be vulnerable to meaningful cross-examination and would not be subject to impeachment due to bias or inconsistencies in his prior statements. 

Therefore, after a thorough review of all the evidence, federal prosecutors determined her account to be credible and likewise determined that a jury appropriately would credit her potential testimony. (Pages 30-31)

and

Witness 105 is a 50-year-old black female. .... 

Witness 105 explained that Brown put his hands up “for a brief moment,” and then turned around and made a shuffling movement. Wilson told Brown to “get down,” but Brown did not comply. Instead, Brown put his hands down “in a running position.” Witness 105 could not tell whether Brown was “charging” at Wilson or whether his plan was to run past Wilson, but either way, Brown was running toward Wilson. 

According to Witness 105, Wilson only shot at Brown when Brown was moving toward him. 

Both of Witness Witness 105's statements were consistent with each other, materially consistent with the physical evidence, and consistent with other credible witness accounts in material ways. Witness 105 has no criminal history. If called as a defense witness in a prosecution of Darren Wilson, this witness's account would be subject to limited impeachment on her ability to accurately perceive what occurred, e.g., that she perceived Wilson driving a car, rather than an SUV. However, that line of cross-examination does not undermine the overall consistency of her account with other credible witness accounts and with the physical evidence. 

Accordingly, after a thorough review of all the evidence, federal prosecutors determined her account to be credible and likewise determined that a jury appropriately would credit her potential testimony. (Page 31)

and

Witness 108 is a 74-year-old black male .... 

The police officer was “in the right” and “did what he had to do,” and …. he “would have fucking shot that boy too.” Wilson told Brown to “stop” or “get down” at least ten times, but instead Brown “charged” at Wilson. 

Witness 108 has no criminal history. Witness 108's accounts, although quite general, are clearly exculpatory as to Wilson and consistent with other credible evidence. 

His reluctance to testify in opposition to community sentiment lends further credence to his account.(Page 32)

and

Witness 109 is a 53-year-old black male. .... 

Brown ran away from Wilson but then kept coming toward Wilson. Wilson told Brown to stop and lie down, but Brown failed to comply. …. 

Wilson did not shoot to kill at first, but “he unloaded on him when [Brown] wouldn’t stop.” 

Witness 109 does have a criminal history that would be admissible in a federal court. Witness 109 has a misdemeanor theft conviction from 1985 and a felony arrest, both of which likely would be inadmissible in federal court for impeachment purposes. Witness 109's account is exculpatory as to Wilson and although Witness 109 may be subject to limited impeachment, the majority of his description is consistent with the physical and forensic evidence, and consistent with other credible witness accounts. 

Community sentiment and therefore his reluctance to testify on behalf of Wilson would likely bolster his account. (Pages 32-33)

and

Witness 113 is a 31-year-old black female. .... 

She saw Brown running toward Wilson, prompting Wilson to yell, “Freeze.” Brown failed to stop, and Wilson began shooting Brown. 

Witness 113 has no criminal history that would be admissible in federal court. Witness 113 has past arrests but no convictions, which likely would be inadmissible in federal court. In a federal prosecution, if served and called to testify on behalf of Wilson, federal prosecutors could subject Witness 113 to cross-examination due to her admittedly untruthful statements during the first part of her interview with the FBI. However, the reasons for being untruthful, coupled with the fact that she immediately changed course when her statements were challenged, give her account reliability. 

Accordingly, prosecutors did not discount her narrative in its entirety, but rather in examining all of the evidence, considered this witness's account in making a prosecutive decision. (Pages 33-34)

==========

In later posts, I will call

* Witness 102 by the nick-name House Repairman.

* Witness 103 by the nick-name Pickup Driver.

* Witness 104 by the nick-name Minivan Daughter