Johnnie Robinson – U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Notice to Close File: Johnnie Robinson Case

Description

April 28, 2010 memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division recommending closure of the federal civil-rights investigation into the 1963 fatal shooting of Johnnie Robinson by Birmingham Police Department Officer Jack Parker. The document summarizes the circumstances of Robinson’s death, the original Birmingham Police Department and coroner investigations, and the FBI’s later review under the Department of Justice Cold Case initiative.

The memorandum concludes that the matter was not prosecutable under federal criminal civil-rights statutes because the applicable statute of limitations had expired before later statutory amendments could be applied, Parker was deceased, and the investigation identified no other officer as directly involved in the shooting. It states that the matter lacked prosecutive merit and should be closed, with concurrence from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.