Mike Brown Death: Blogger Disputes Claim Black Teen Had No Serious Juvenile Record At Time Of Death

Michael Brown had no serious felony cases against him at the time of his death, a lawyer for a St. Louis County official, said Wednesday. The death of the 18-year-old black teen, who was shot and killed by a white police officer on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked unrest as demonstrators protested for weeks, sometimes violently, in the city.

Two separate petitions were reportedly filed in St. Louis County Family Court on Aug. 22 by St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a local newspaper, and conservative blogger Charles C. Johnson, to reveal details of any juvenile court records that could be linked to Brown. Police officials reportedly said that Brown did not have any criminal record as an adult, while his family has said he did not have any juvenile record either. Johnson had previously claimed that Brown was arrested for an incident involving second-degree murder before he was shot by officer Darren Wilson.

Cynthia Harcourt, a lawyer for St. Louis County Juvenile Officer Kip Seely, reportedly said that Missouri state law prohibits the release of juvenile records and proceedings to the public, but also said that Brown did not have any juvenile record involving serious felony charges or convictions, the Post-Dispatch reported.

However, Johnson who maintains a local blog, wrote on his Twitter account, after the Post-Dispatch story was published, disputing the headline: “Juvenile court: Michael Brown had no serious felony convictions, did not face felony charges.”

"The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrongly reported that Cynthia Harcourt, who represents the St. Louis family court, said that Michael Brown had not been convicted of a 'serious felony.' (No reporter has asked her what a 'serious felony' even means.)," Johnson wrote in an email to Talking Points Memo. Johnson also told the online publication in the email that two law enforcement officers had revealed to him that Brown was involved in a second-degree murder.

"This argument was meant to sway the judge but Gotnews.com (Johnson's blog) has never said Brown was convicted--only that he was involved in one. We still haven't heard if he was charged or not. There are many ways in which someone could be present at a crime but never be charged with the underlying offense," he reportedly wrote in the email.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Harcourt neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a juvenile record for Brown, but only ruled out his involvement in a serious felony case. The judge at the court on Wednesday reportedly made no decision on whether records of lesser offenses, if any existed, would be made public.

"My two St. Louis law enforcement sources told me that Michael Brown was involved in a second degree murder and was a gang member," Johnson wrote on his blog.

Anthony Gray, the lawyer who represented Brown’s parents, reportedly remained silent during the court hearing on Wednesday, but told the Post-Dispatch outside the courtroom that that the request for the juvenile records only meant that the organization wanted “the character assassination of Mike Brown.”