Judge REFUSES to release bodycam of Andrew Brown Jr being shot dead by NC cops because it 'will hinder investigation': Family will be allowed to watch 'redacted' footage only
A judge has refused to release body cam footage of Andrew Brown Jr. being shot dead by police to the media after a prosecutor said he hit deputies with his car before they fired the shots that killed him.
Brown, 42, was shot and killed by police in Elizabeth City, North Carolina at 8.30am on April 21 while at the wheel of his car in his driveway. Police are yet to release bodycam footage of the incident; his family have called it an execution.
Judge Jeffrey Foster denied a media petition to release the footage publicly, saying it would impede the ongoing investigation.
Brown's family will allowed to watch redacted footage from four body cameras, according to reports. Their attorney said up to eight officers were at the scene. The family can watch the footage but not take copies.
District Attorney Andrew Womble had earlier told the judge that he viewed body camera video and disagreed with a characterization by attorneys for the family of Brown Jr. that his car was stationary when the shooting started.
Womble said the video shows that Brown´s car made contact with law enforcement twice before shots could be heard on the video.
'As it backs up, it does make contact with law enforcement officers,' he said, adding that the car stops again.
'The next movement of the car is forward. It is in the direction of law enforcement and makes contact with law enforcement. It is then and only then that you hear shots.'
Womble argued that body camera video from the shooting, a portion of which was shown to the family on Monday, should be kept from the public for another month so that state investigators can make progress on their probe of the shooting.
The FBI launched a civil rights probe Tuesday into the death of Brown Jr., as his family released an independent autopsy showing he was shot five times, including in the back of the head.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called for a special prosecutor while pressure built on authorities to release body camera footage of last week's shooting.
Police said they were carrying out an arrest warrant for drugs offenses and claim Brown was a drug dealer with a rap sheet dating back to 1988. Brown had a 180 page criminal record and had been filmed selling narcotics in the weeks leading up to his death, Fox News reported Monday.
Andrew Brown, pictured, a 42-year-old father of 10, was shot in his car on April 21 by sheriffs
District Attorney Andrew Womble told a judge at a hearing Wednesday that he viewed body camera video and disagreed with a characterization by attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown Jr. that his car was stationary when the shooting started. Womble said the video shows that Brown´s car made contact with law enforcement twice before shots could be heard
The results of an independent autopsy released by attorneys for Brown's family Tuesday shows he was shot five times; four times in his right arm and once in the head
A judge is considering formal requests to make the video public Wednesday
The FBI´s Charlotte field office, which opened the civil rights investigation into Brown´s death, said in a statement that its agents planned to work closely with the Department of Justice 'to determine whether federal laws were violated.'
Following the news, lawyers for the Brown family said they have 'great faith' in the investigation.
They also called separate footage taken by a neighbor of the moment a large group of cops surrounded Brown Jr.'s car 'an inflamed modern-day lynch mob'.
The independent autopsy was performed Sunday by a pathologist hired by Brown's family. The exam noted four wounds to the right arm and one to the head. The state´s autopsy has not been released yet.
The family's lawyers also released a copy of the death certificate, which lists the cause of death as a 'penetrating gunshot wound of the head.' The certificate, signed by a paramedic services instructor who serves as a local medical examiner, describes the death as a homicide.
The autopsy results come a day after Brown's relatives were shown a 20-second clip of footage from one deputy's body camera.
One of the Brown family lawyers, Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, who viewed the video, said Monday that officers opened fire on Brown while he had his hands on the steering wheel of a car. She said the video showed Brown trying to drive away but posing no threat to officers.
On Tuesday footage emerged of the moment a large group of cops surrounded Brown Jr.'s car. The clip - taken by a neighbor in the moments after officers opened fire - shows in the seconds after Brown's car had crashed into a tree.
Brown's son Khalil Ferebee questioned why deputies opened fire.
'Yesterday I said he was executed. This autopsy report shows me that was correct,' he said Tuesday at a news conference. 'It´s obvious he was trying to get away. It´s obvious. And they´re going to shoot him in the back of the head?'
The pathologist, North Carolina-based Dr. Brent Hall, noted a wound to the back of Brown´s head from an undetermined distance that penetrated his skull and brain. He said there was no exit wound. Two shots to Brown´s right arm penetrated the skin. Two others shots to the arm grazed him.
Witnesses said Brown got into his car (pictured) and was driving away when the deputy opened fire.
The moment a 'militarized' sheriff's vehicle carrying armed deputies rushed to Brown's home
The shooting prompted days of protests and calls for justice and transparency. Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II has said multiple deputies fired shots but released few other details. Seven Pasquotank County deputies have been placed on leave.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said: 'If they thought Andrew Brown Jr did something inappropriately and criminal you all would have seen that video by now. There was no need for them to be the judge, the jury and the executioner that morning.'
Local clergy members who called a news conference outside of an Elizabeth City church welcomed the FBI's announcement.
'Amen. Because the people here are inept, incapable and incompetent,' said the Rev. William Barber II, who leads the Poor People´s Campaign, referring to local authorities.
Brown's lawyers also welcomed the federal agency's involvement: 'We have great faith that this caliber of an investigation will prevent any obscuring of the facts released to the Brown family and public and will overcome any local bias that may prevent justice from being served.'
Brown, 42, father of 10 children, was shot and killed in his car at around 8.30am in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, while police were executing search-and-arrest warrants for drug offenses, officials said
The State Bureau of Investigation began a probe of the shooting shortly after it happened. It initially said that it would turn its findings over to the local district attorney, as is standard under state laws and procedures.
But the governor, a Democrat, urged the appointment of a special prosecutor to handle the state's case.
'This would help assure the community and Mr. Brown´s family that a decision on pursuing criminal charges is conducted without bias,' Cooper said in a statement.
State Attorney General Josh Stein said state law puts control of criminal prosecutions in the hands of the local district attorney, so his office cannot intervene unless asked. He said he has offered assistance to the local prosecutor, but has only received an acknowledgment.
'For my office to play a role in the prosecution, the District Attorney must request our assistance,' Stein said.
District Attorney Andrew Womble, who oversees Pasquotank County, issued a statement noting that state law gives him the power to decide on prosecuting crimes in his district and he stands 'ready willing and able to fulfill my statutory obligations.'
Wednesday's court hearing on the video will consider petitions to release the footage, including filings by a media coalition and by the county attorney on behalf of the sheriff.
Patrice Revelle stands in front of police in riot gear as they force people off a street as they protest the killing of Andrew Brown Jr. on April 27
The police were enforcing an 8 pm curfew announced after the shooting death of Brown by Pasquotank County Sheriff deputies
Protesters march through the street after the death of Andrew Brown Jr.
A North Carolina law that took effect in 2016 allows law enforcement agencies to show body camera video privately to a victim's family, but it generally requires a court to approve any public release.
It's not clear how soon a judge could rule or how quickly the video would be released if the release is approved. In similar cases, it has sometimes taken weeks for the full legal process to play out.
The slow movement has prompted an outcry from protesters, the family's lawyers and racial justice advocates, who noted that law enforcement agencies in other states have moved faster.
In Columbus, Ohio, the day before Brown was shot, body camera footage was released within hours of an officer fatally shooting a 16-year-old Black girl who was swinging a knife at another girl.
Democrats in the North Carolina General Assembly filed a measure this month proposing that body camera video be released within 48 hours unless a law enforcement agency asks a court to delay its distribution.
But the legislation faces long odds with the GOP controlling both chambers of the Legislature.
A key Republican lawmaker, state Sen. Danny Britt, issued a statement saying GOP lawmakers are open to considering improvements to the current law. But with a hearing set for Wednesday, he said, the process has had little time to unfold.
