FERGUSON, Mo. — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in a lawsuit questioning a Ferguson police officer’s use of force against the man who was with Michael Brown when that officer shot Brown to death five years ago.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the appeal from Dorian Johnson was denied in a decision released Monday. Johnson says that as he walked with Brown on a street on Aug. 9, 2014, Wilson illegally detained him by using his police vehicle to block their path. Moments later, Wilson shot and killed Brown during a struggle. Johnson fled and wasn’t wounded.

Johnson argued Wilson “acted with deliberate indifference or reckless disregard” for Johnson’s rights, used excessive force and essentially detained him unlawfully by using his police vehicle to impede his movement.

___

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

The Associated Press