Class A felonies include second-degree murder and first-degree robbery; the penalties in adult court range from 10 years in prison to death. Class B felonies include voluntary manslaughter, second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, with a maximum penalty of five to 15 years.

It is not known whether Brown had ever been accused of lesser offenses. Class C felonies, for example, which include involuntary manslaughter and second-degree assault, would become open only if there were two previous adjudications for class A, B or C felonies. That was not the case with Brown.

Joseph Martineau of Lewis Rice & Fingersh, attorney for the Post-Dispatch, acknowledged to Siwak that some juvenile court records are confidential under Missouri law.

But he argued that the primary reason to keep them confidential — to protect a child from entering adulthood with the stigma of a criminal record — expired with Brown’s death. He said Siwak had the discretion to open files, and said there was heavy public interest in the details of Brown’s life.

Martineau pointed to a general lack of transparency surrounding the police response to, and investigation of, the shooting. He said opening the juvenile files would “dispel speculation that occurs when proceedings are not open.”