Federal trial over Michael Brown's death pushed back to 2018

ST. LOUIS — A federal trial involving a lawsuit Michael Brown’s parents filed over his 2014 police shooting death in Ferguson, Missouri, now won’t happen until at least next year, though a judge is giving both sides time to resolve the matter out of court.

U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber has scheduled the wrongful-death case filed by Michael Brown Sr. and Lezley McSpadden to go to trial in February 2018. It had been docketed for October.

But Webber also has scheduled for the first time “alternate dispute resolution” blocks of time. Those efforts, set for two several-week periods between April and mid-June, typically are confidential and can include mediation or arbitration.

No court filings as of Wednesday have indicated willingness by either side to resolve the matter out of court.