"In my capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, I would say, `You're not supposed to shoot so many times,' " said Dr. Baden, who retired from the state police in 2011. "Right now there is too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting."

But this "executed in the street" stuff makes no sense to me on two levels.

1. The six shots, and the grouping (along with the distance) doesn't suggest "execution" style killing.  Overkill, unnecessary conflict - sure.  But it can't be brazen disregard for bystanders AND a cold, calculated execution.

2. In a lot of ways, it's more disturbing if the cop ISN'T just an overtly racist sociopath.  Suppose he IS an honored cop, an upstanding citizen, etc.  This seeming over use, and possibly completely needless use of deadly force speaks more to systemic issues - both in police culture, and broader perceptions of blackness.

Top comment as of this moment:  

Hey everybody! Let's have a trial on the Internet! It's the new, faster way to a fair verdict. There are no rules and no boring judge to keep the proceedings orderly. No juries are needed either -- we are the jury. With an Internet trial there are no pesky, complicated judicial procedures to admit evidence, you don't need to know anything about the law, you just make it up as you go!

But wait, there's more! With an Internet trial you bring all your existing prejudices, biases, raw emotions, stuff you read on the Interwebs or what your other friends posted on another site, cable news reports, talking heads, flaky website hearsay. It's all admissible! And, of course, most importantly -- your opinion matters more than anyone else's.

This is pretty much a fact-free proceeding so just sit back and start lobbing whatever you like and see what sticks. Have fun!

Number two:

Wait a minute.

I've been "kind of" following this whole thing for a week now, but I hadn't fully realized:

This whole thing was about "JAYWALKING"?

Christ.

And this, number three:

After all the conflicting reports are weighed and balanced, we still may never know the truth. An unarmed young black man lay dead: that we do know.

I think we can all agree that if he had been a white man, his body wouldn't have lain in the street, alone and unloved, for 4 or five hours. That's racism, folks.

Jaywalking was the original 'crime', doesn't appear a citation was issued, so basically a cop deciding to tell someone to use a crosswalk and somehow that spiraled into, if you believe the cops, a justified shooting.

Shooting someone over a jaywalking is never justified.  Cops, just let it go, grown @ss people don't need you informing them how to cross the road, and they might not give you the respect you think you deserve.  

Wouldn't it just be easier to let some petty S go from time to time or not get all bent out of shape when a citizen doesn't respond the way in which you think they should over something that is beyond petty.

Where is the police perspective ?  I have seen it several times, the cops are there for some non-sense and because it is non-sense people aren't exactly giving them the respect they want.  So they decide to formidably make them comply and before you know it, it turns into chaos.

Chaos that didn't exist until the police arrived.

People are arrested all the time for 'resisting arrest' with no underlying charge.  That does not make sense.  Of course they resisted, they should not be arrested to begin with.  

The issue isn't whether it's justified, the issue is that we have police officers who are incapable of letting petty BS not escalate into a national shooting incident.  Even if brown was a lifelong criminal, the worse thug on the streets, it is the cops job to keep things in perspective and not allow a jaywalking incident to morph into a national incident.

Is it possible Brown was mistakenly accused of shoplifting, and that's why he had words with the clerk?

I have no idea if that's what this video shows - and I don't intend to watch it 500 times and take notes and read all the blogs that are micro-analyzing it.  Whatever it is the video shows, its appearance now is just another example of why people need to chill the fk out and quit leaping to conclusions every time something "new" comes out.

Mr. Brown, 18, was also shot four times in the right arm, he said, adding that all the bullets were fired into his front.

Note that this contradicts the friend, who says Brown was shot in the back at least once.

Perhaps some missed Brown during the time he had his back to Wilson and/or some missed after he'd turned and faced/approached Wilson?

@6:28/6:29 of video

#1 How'd he get from there to there?

#2 Because he ran, the police was still in the truck - cause he was like over the truck

{crosstalk}

#2 But him and the police was both in the truck, then he ran - the police got out and ran after him

{crosstalk}

#2 Then the next thing I know he doubled back toward him cus - the police had his gun drawn already on him -

[there is dispute here whether he says "doubled back" or "coming back."]

#1. Oh, the police got his gun

#2 The police kept dumpin on him, and I'm thinking the police kept missing - he like - be like - but he kept coming toward him

{crosstalk}

#2 Police fired shots - the next thing I know - the police was missing

#1 The Police?

#2 The Police shot him

#1 Police?

#2 The next thing I know ... I'm thinking ... the dude started running ... (garbled something about "he took it from him")

The following not from the video.

This is terribly important because if Mike Brown had been shot, and he advanced towards the cop instead of surrendering, it would substantiate the narrative that the policeman shot in self-defense due to the fact that he was being threatened with severe bodily harm. This corroborates an account of the event given by a friend of Officer Darren Wilson:

This seems to say that Michael Brown decided to turn and attack the officer. This is consistent with the aggression shown in the video from the store.

Well, then Michael takes off and gets to be about 35 feet away. And, Darren's first protocol is to pursue. So, he stands up and yells, "Freeze!" Michael and his friend turn around. And Michael taunts him... And then all the sudden he just started bumrushing him. He just started coming at him full speed. And, so he just started shooting. And, he just kept coming. And, so he really thinks he was on something."

Link

Because at least right now, the forensic information appears to fit both "the cop is guilty" and the "cop is innocent" interpretations of what happened.

So that leaves what the cop says what happened against the word of two eyewitnesses.  I wouldn't count Brown's friend as credible because of him being less than honest about what had just happened before the shooting at the store.

So if the cop gave good testimony and the two witnesses did as well, I can't imagine myself convicting him of a grave crime like murder.