mike was too much of a bitch to be an outlaw

I think that just speaks to how he probably had very little to do with the actual crimes. For that matter I doubt that Charlie had much to do with the violent escapades of Arthur either. Toward the end of the movie Arthur says to Charlie something along the lines of 'how come you can never just.. stop me.' I think they were led astray by Arthur and followed him without necessarily partaking in his debauchery. That doesn't excuse them of course, but I think Mikey was probably some what uninvolved, and Charlie an unsupportive member of the gang. That's why they left him... Charlie sort of earned his semi redemption at the end by finally putting a stop to Arthur's terrorizing by killing him and the remainder of his gang, but Mikey was a victim of the circumstance. He was never really cut out to be part of it and was probably just along for the ride, and that's why he probably came off like a little bitch in comparison to his brothers.

I think the movie indirectly tells us Mikey was just an accomplice to his older brothers. The opening shows, Mikey, standing around with a Deer in the headlights look, not knowing how to react to a gun fight. Even one of the characters mentioned, Mikey, looks like a boy with out much experience of anything. Makes his flogging, and ultimately, a result of his death, that much more unjust.

Mikey was mentally retarded. He had the mind of a 3-4 year old. The reason they kept him along in the gang was because of Arthur's twisted weird notion of them all being a big happy family, including the black fellow and their other co-hort. And after all Mikey was Arthur and Charlie's little brother so they probably felt they needed to bring him along. Who knows what happened to their parents but they are probably dead and therefore they take care of Mikey and involve him in their criminal activity even though he really has no idea what's actually going on or any notion of right and wrong.

Hidyho!