After an in-depth investigation, the Department of Justice will recommend that no civil rights charges be brought against Darren Wilson in the August shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., reports the New York Times. Once the final recommendation is submitted, the federal case against Wilson will be closed.
Federal investigators conducted more than 200 interviews, performed an independent autopsy and analyzed both audio and video surveillance for their investigation, but they said that they failed to find any evidence that would change November’s grand jury decision to not bring charges against Wilson. In order to bring charges against Wilson, investigators would have had to show that he maliciously killed Brown with the intent to violate his civil rights.
The Brown family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, responded to the report of the DOJ’s pending decision, telling the Times, “We’ve heard speculation on cases before that didn’t turn out to be true. It’s too much to put the family through to respond to every rumor.”
Attorney General Eric Holder hopes to release the full report to the public before he leaves office in the next two months.
The separate investigation of discriminatory practices by the Ferguson police department is still ongoing.