A High Legal Bar

Given the physical evidence and the high bar to prosecution set by Missouri’s laws on self-defense and justifiable use of force by an officer, obtaining an indictment — let alone a conviction at trial — might still have been unlikely, even under a prosecutor determined to get one.

The fog of accounts of Mr. Brown’s last moments might have hamstrung any prosecution even further.

Of the two crucial events during the roughly 90 seconds in which Officer Wilson stopped Mr. Brown and shot him, one is less disputed. Officer Wilson testified, and both bruises and DNA evidence indicate, that Mr. Brown struck him and tried to wrest his gun away early in their encounter. Two shots were fired, and there is general agreement that Mr. Brown, wounded slightly, fled. The officer gave chase on foot, gun drawn. Then Mr. Brown suddenly turned and began moving back toward Officer Wilson.

What happened next cannot be resolved by analysis of the physical evidence, and the starkly contrasting accounts only underscore the unreliability of memory and perceptions. On the ground, blood splotches indicate that Mr. Brown was shot as he approached Officer Wilson, but kept moving until another volley killed him as he bent forward.

Of the 20 or so eyewitnesses who appeared before the grand jury, most of those who spoke to the issue said they believed Mr. Brown had his hands up. But some accounts were clearly not credible and were recanted under interrogation. And of the credible witnesses whose stories were largely consistent, many were at odds with one another.

Consider these competing accounts, from two witnesses who claimed to have had clear views of what unfolded. The first, a passenger in a minivan that drove up during the encounter, said Mr. Brown “looked like he was going to raise his hands at one point.” Instead, she said, “he got like, shoulder length like this, and then he balled his hands up” and charged the officer as a football player might, even as Officer Wilson yelled, “Stop, stop, stop!”

The second witness, who watched from his porch, said Mr. Brown had turned toward Officer Wilson, raised his hands to shoulder height and begun walking toward him. “I believe he was giving up,” he said.