ferguson officer darren wilson complaint

8/10/2019 Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson Complaint

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MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION,

Petitioner

v

Case

Number

DARREN WILSON,

ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING

REQUESTED

Respondent.

PETITIONERS COMPLAINT

Petitioner National Bar Association, by and through counsel, submits this petition

complaining ofDarren Wilson and alleges as follows:

I

NATURE AND PURPOSE

OF THE

COMPLAINT

1 On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown ( Brown ), 18, an unarmed black teenager,

was shot dead by Darren Wilson ( Wilson ), a white police officer employed by the Ferguson

Police Department.

2 Despite killing Brown and acting contrary to federal, state, and local laws and

regulations, Wilson's Missouri peace officer license is presently active and has been active at all

times relevant to this matter.

3 Petitioner files this complaint under 590.080

of

the Revised Statutes

of

Missouri

asking for the permanent revocation of Wilson' s Missouri peace officer's license.

II

JURISDICTION

4 The Director (the Director )

of

the Missouri Department

of

Public Safety is

responsible for issuing and disciplining the licenses of Missouri peace officers pursuant to

590.020, 590.030, and 590.080

ofthe

Revised Statutes ofMissouri (Supp. 2012) ( RSMo. ).


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open and exposed and nothing indicated that he possessed a weapon of any sort nor presented a

threat of imminent death

or

substantial bodily harm to Wilson

or

others.

14. Despite observing that Brown did not possess a weapon and was already badly

wounded, Wilson fired several more shots at and into Brown. Several witnesses told police and

the press that

Brown s

hands were either raisedor to his side

in

surrender at this time. Nonetheless,

Wilson fired additional shots into Brown s arm, chest, face, and a final fatal shot into the top of

Brown s head.

15. After the shooting, Brown s body laid on the ground for hours, initially remaining

uncovered for several minutes, as blood streamed from his head,

arm,

and torso onto Canfield

Drive.

Brown s

family, including his mother and father, watched in disbelief and anguish as

Wilson paced near

Brown s

body

on

the pavement before leaving the scene.

16. The St. Louis County Medical Examiner conducted the initial autopsy

of Brown s

body and a physician and board-certified forensic pathologist retained by Brown s family

performed a second autopsy. Both autopsies concluded that at least six bullets from Wilson s gun

hit Brown, including a fatal shot to the head. The independent autopsy further revealed that all of

the shots to Brown were survivable except for the final head shot.

17. Despite unprecedented civil concern resulting from the shooting and the alleged

criminal circumstances surrounding the same, Officer Wilson remains licensed and on paid leave

from the Ferguson Police Department. Moreover, the Ferguson Police

Chief

has made public

statements indicating that he intends to put Wilson back to work

as

a police officer

in

Ferguson.

IV

CL IMS G INST WILSON

18

Wilson s peace officer license is subject to discipline under

590.080, RSMo,

because he committed a criminal offense, and because he committed acts while on active duty or

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Brown while Wilson was still in the patrol car, Wilson knowingly caused physical injury to another

person [Brown] by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument. This is clearly assault.

23 . Additionally, the facts make clear that Wilson had sufficient time to deliberate

whether to exit his vehicle without waiting for backup, as well as to consider whether to unload

his weapon into an unarmed Michael Brown. There is no indication that Brown posed a real or

perceived threat to Wilson or others after Wilson fust shot Brown at Wilson s patrol car. Wilson s

deliberative actions constitute murder and/or manslaughter.

24. In the alternative, Wilson s action

of

firing without justification and within a

residential area were recklessly criminal in that it exposed the community to harm and injury.

Further, even

if

Wilson s initial shot at his patrol vehicle was not criminal, any subsequent shots

after Brown ran away were an unjustified escalation

of

force committed under the influence

of

raised emotions related to the struggle at his patrol vehicle.

25. Wilson s actions demonstrate that he committed one or more crimes on August 9,

2014, regardless whether a grand jury decides if an indictment is appropriate.

26. Accordingly, based on Wilson s conduct, the Commission should find that Wilson

committed one or more

ofthe

following offenses under the following RSMo provisions:

565.020. A person commits the crime

of

murder in the fust degree

if

he knowingly

causes the death

of

another person after deliberation upon the matter.


of

murder in the second degree

if

he

knowingly causes the death

of

another person or, with the purpose

of

causing serious physical injury to another person, causes the death of

another person.

565.023. A person commits the crime ofvoluntary manslaughter if he causes the

death

of

another person under circumstances that would constitute

murder in the second degree under subdivision (1

of

subsection 1

of

section 565.021, except that he caused the death under the influence of

sudden passion arising from adequate cause.


of

involuntary manslaughter in the first

degree i he or she recklessly c uses the death of

nother

person. A

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person commits the crime o involuntary manslaughter in the second

degree i he acts with criminal negligence to cause the death

o

any

person.

565.050. A person commits the crime o assault in the first degree i he attempts

to kill or knowingly causes or attempts to cause serious physical injury

to another person.

565.060 A person commits the crime o assault in the second degree ifhe:

1) Attempts to kill or knowingly causes or attempts

to

cause serious

physical injury to another person under the influence o sudden

passion arising out o adequate cause; or

2) Attempts to cause or knowingly causes physical injury to another

person by means o a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument; or

3) Recklessly causes serious physical injury to another person; or

5) Recklessly causes physical injury to another person by means o

discharge

o

a firearm.


o

assault in the third degree if:

1) The person attempts to cause or recklessly causes physical injury

to another person; or

2) With criminal negligence the person causes physical injury to

another person by means o a deadly weapon; or

3) The person purposely places another person in apprehension o

immediate physical injury; or

4) The person recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave

risk

o

death or serious physical injury to another person; or

5) The person knowingly causes physical contact with another

person knowing the other person will regard the contact as

offensive or provocative.

27. In support o its position, Petitioner asks the Commission

to

take judicial notice o

the evidence and reports released related to the

St

Louis County investigation on November 24,

2014.

28. Considering that the preponderance

o

evidence clearly indicated that officer

Wilson committed on or more o the aforementioned crimes, his license should be permanently

revoked.


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COUNT TWO - VIOLATION

O

590.080.1 3):

29. Petitioner realleges and incorporates

by

reference the allegations set forth in all

preceding paragraphs as

if

set forth fully and reiterated here n their entirety.

30. Cause for discipline

of

Wilson's license also exists

under

590.080.1(3), because

Wilson committed acts on active duty or under color

of

law that involved moral turpitude or a

reckless disregard for safety of the public and for Brown. Undeniably, it is undisputed that Wilson

committed his criminal offenses while he was on active duty as a police officer for the City

of

Ferguson.

31. Wilson also committed the complained

of

acts under color

of

law. The phrase

under color

of

law is afforded its peculiar and appropriate meaning in law[,] 1.090, RSMo

(2000). The phrase is commonly examined in the context

of

civil rights cases under 42 U.S.C.

1983, where it means a state actor exercised power he possessed by virtue

of

state law and was

only able to do so because he had the authority

of

state law. Dossett v. First State Bank, 399 F.3d

940, 949 (8th Cir. 2005) (internal citations and quotation omitted). A misuse ofpower possessed

under state law is an action taken under color

of

state law, and so includes acts taken under pretense

of the law and acts overstepping the authority provided by the law. Id.

32. The remaining requirements

of

the bad acts covered by 590.080.1(3) are moral

turpitude or a reckless disregard for safety. The evidence establishes both.

33. Moral turpitude is defmed as baseness, vileness,

or

'depravity'

or

acts 'contrary to

justice, honesty, modesty or good morals

.

' In re Duncan, 844 S.W.2d 443, 444 (Mo. bane 1992)

(and cases cited therein); see also Brehe v. Mo Dep t ofElem. nd Secondary Educ., 213 S.W.3d

720, 725 (Mo. Ct. App.

2007).

34. Police officers must be held to a high standard. The public trust and the criminal

justice system require that

th

e police force

be

properly commissioned, that police

re

s

pect

the

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constitution, and that police do not violate the law that guides them. Wilson violated the public

trust and undermined the criminal justice system in deliberately and recklessly committing assault

and murder upon Brown. Wilson's crimes were contrary to justice, honesty, modesty or good

morals, and therefore qualify as ones o moral turpitude.

35. Applying similar reasoning, the Commission can readily conclude that

on

August

9, 2014, Wilson demonstrated a reckless disregard for the safety o Michael Brown and others in

the vicinity. Wilson' s decision to grab Brown while Wilson was in the patrol car and later exit his

patrol car to fire upon Brown purposefully placed Brown in apprehension o immediate physical

injury and created a substantial and unjustifiable risk that actual serious physical injury would,

in fact, occur. In other words, Wilson acted both purposefully or knowingly in assaulting and

eventually killing Brown, the first basis for the fmding that discipline is appropriate, and he acted

recklessly in disregard o Brown's safety, as well as the safety o those in proximity o where the

bullets from Wilson's un travelled.

36. A fundamental purpose o the requirement that peace officers be validly licensed is

ensuring the public's safety. Upon information and belief, at the time Wilson fired his weapon

recklessly at Brown, the two men were located in close proximity to a residential area where senior

citizens, children, and families resided. Accordingly, Wilson's behavior o irresponsibly firing at

an unarmed teenager constituted a conscious disregard for the public safety o the residents o this

heavily populated residential area and placed innocent bystanders at a substantial risk o harm or

death.

37. In addition, upon information and belief, Wilson never attempted to administer

emergency medical assistance to Brown, leaving him to die in the street in the sweltering summer

heat.

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38. In light

o

Wilson's disregard for Brown' s life and safety and his reckless use

o

his firearm, Wilson's actions demonstrate a reckless disregard for public safety for purposes o

590.080.1 (3). The Commission can also find axiomatic that Wilson' s actions prove that he would

continue to be unsafe to the public i he were permitted to continue as a peace officer.

39. In support o its position, Petitioner asks the Commission to take judicial notice o

the evidence and reports released related to the St. Louis County investigation on November 24,

2014.

WHEREFORE, the premises considered, Petitioner National Bar Association respectfully

requests that:

(a) pursuant to 590.090.1(3), the Director suspend immediately the peace

officer license Darren Wilson since he presents a clear and present danger

to the public health or safety i commissioned as a peace officer;

(b) pursuant t 590.090.1(2), the Director determine that probable cause exists

to suspend immediately Wilson's license and, without notice or hearing,

issue an emergency order suspending such license until final determination

o

the disciplinary complaint; and

(c) the Administrative Hearing Commission fmd that cause to discipline officer

Darren Wilson exists and, pursuant to Section 590.080.3, within thirty days

o that fmding, hold a hearing t determine the form o discipline to be

imposed and thereafter permanently revoke Wilson's license.

Finally, Petitioner ask that the Commission grant Petitioner such other and further relief, both

general and special, at law and in equity, to which they may be justly entitled.

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ferguson officer darren wilson complaint

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