ST. LOUIS — A movie may be in the works about the Michael Brown shooting. Tracking-Board.com reports that Warner Brothers has picked up the film rights to the book by Brown’s mother, Lezley Mcspadden. The book is called “tell the truth and shame the devil.”
Simon and Schuster published Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown last year. Several studios showed interest in making the movie. Warner brothers was competing with several other studios for the rights.
Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. That fatal shooting, and the grand jury case, sparked protests across the country.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the family of Michael Brown, the city of Ferguson, former Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson and former police Officer Darren Wilson are nearing settlement of a lawsuit over Brown’s 2014 fatal shooting by Wilson.
The settlement has not yet been finalized or approved by a judge. It may be for less than $3 million. That is the limit of the city’s insurance.
The family of Michael Brown filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Ferguson in 2015 under Missouri’s “wrongful death statute.” In addition to the city, the suit also names Officer Darren Wilson, whose fatal shooting of Brown has been ruled justified, and former Police Chief Thomas Jackson.
Attorney Anthony Gray said that the civil lawsuit will rely on “pretty much the same evidence,” but it will be cast differently. The jury in the civil lawsuit will be asked to make a determination based on a lower burden of proof — by a preponderance of evidence, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.