Parents of Michael Brown Seek UN Intervention, Plus New Motion to Dismiss in Jodi Arias Case

As Ferguson, Missouri police brace for possible violence following a grand jury decision on whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson - who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown – his parents were in Switzerland Tuesday to seek United Nations help in getting justice in the death of their son.

Defense attorney Mike Cavalluzzi is joined by FBI profiler and author Jim Clemente to discuss the latest updates in the Michael Brown case, as well as a new motion in the Jodi Arias case to dismiss all charges, plus statements by the oldest daughter of reality star Mama June about her mother’s association with a convicted child molester.

Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to speak to the United Nations Committee Against Torture — which also seeks to end cruel or degrading treatment or punishment by government authorities around the world.

“I think it’s a very smart move,” Clemente said about the latest move by Brown’s parents. “If you can’t do it in the U.S., find it somewhere else – let the international community get pissed off in the U.S.”

Cavalluzzi adds his view that going to the U.N. is an attempt by the Brown family to let the grand jury know, as well as everyone in Ferguson, that the world is watching the case. “Certainly they’re trying to make an analogy between how their son was treated and how African Americans are treated by police, and torture.”

The discussion also explores the activities of authorities in Ferguson in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting, specifically the unrest that occurred on the streets.

A new motion was filed Monday by defense lawyers for Jodi Arias – who is currently being retried in the penalty phase of her trial after being convicted of murdering her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander – to dismiss all charges based on an allegation that the prosecution and law enforcement destroyed evidence contained on the victim’s computer.

“If those allegations are absolutely true, I think that’s a very serious problem for the prosecution,” said Clemente about the allegation relating to alleged child pornography material that was supposedly removed from the Alexander’s computer that was seized by authorities.

Clemente also points out that if it does turn out that the evidence in question was erased from the victim’s computer – whether deliberate or not – would never had been discovered if the prosecution had not pressed for the retrial of the penalty phase currently going on.

“In this case, the allegations that they deliberately erased this material – that law enforcement and the prosecution deliberately erased the material – I don’t think that would ever be considered harmless error,” he said. “If a prosecutor or police officials engage in the deliberate destruction of evidence, it would constitute a major crime. “They could actually lose the entire case against her because of that.”

Turning to the latest developments in the saga of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star “Mama June” Shannon, the panel discusses new allegations by Shannon’s eldest daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, about the convicted child molester her mother has allegedly began dating again.

“If she’s dating him again, then that would put – not only this girl at risk, but any of the other children around – at risk as well. So I think you need that extra factor. If it was historic, and she simply decides she doesn’t believe this child, and she doesn’t apologize, I don’t think that in and of itself makes her a bad parent,” Clemente said.

“I think it can,” Cavallucci counters. “Because I think it depends on when she’s refusing to acknowledge and what she does with that.”

Clemente responds: “I do think that while the situation was going on, absolutely the parent has an obligation to intervene and make sure that her child is safe.”

He adds his view that child protective services should definitely get involved in investigating the issue, and if the offender is indeed in the same home as the children, he does not think it’s appropriate to keep the children in that situation.

Watch the full episode to also hear a discussion of the hugely popular NPR podcast Serial, which reinvestigates the killing of a girl in Baltimore in 1999.