Mississippi Jail Officials Remain Silent about the Death of Jesse Lee Williams
/Secrecy harms public's trust, attorney says
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
from the Mississippi Sun Herald [here]
GULFPORT - Secrecy in the case of a fatal beating at the Harrison County jail damages the public's trust because it doesn't hold public officials accountable, according to advocates of the public's right to know.
The numerous agencies investigating the death of Jessie Lee Williams Jr., beaten in the booking room on Feb. 4, are in open agreement on one aspect: when called for a comment, they have no comment, aren't available to comment or don't return a phone call for comment.
Their lips are sealed in the case, ruled a homicide by the Harrison County coroner. The suspected assailants and accessories are corrections officers, according to witnesses interviewed by the Sun Herald and attorneys for the Williams estate.
It's been nearly six weeks since Williams, 40, died after a brief detention on misdemeanor charges. Police promptly charged him with public drunk and simple assault on a minor when they received a call that night accusing him of pointing and aiming a weapon.
No charges have been filed in Williams' death and investigating agencies are not releasing details. Names of possible suspects were identified last week through the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit.
"When law enforcement keeps secrets, one has to wonder what the reason is," said Leonard Van Slyke, a Jackson media attorney who works with the Mississippi Center for the Freedom of Information.
According to the federal civil lawsuit filed by attorneys for Williams' estate, the jail has a history of abusive conduct, with 54 alleged incidents of abuse reported to jail officials last year. Of those, 22 allegedly occurred in the booking room and 11 involved Ryan Teel, the deputy witnesses have said unrelentingly beat and tortured Williams.
The lawsuit also identifies Deputies Regina Rhodes, Morgan Thompson and Leo DeGeorge as participants and names in the lawsuit jail officials including the sheriff and the county Board of supervisors.
Teel is no longer employed at the jail, but no one will say whether he quit or was fired.
Royce Hignight, a retired FBI agent, said accountability is a critical issue when law enforcement and public officials keep information secret.
"The less exposure there is, the more likely people are to try to hide things, the more likely they are to do wrong things which eventually are going to get them in trouble. In the long run, you don't do anybody any favors when you keep things private," Hignight said.
"I've seen a lot of grown men crying their eyes out when you put the handcuffs on them when something exposed earlier, something maybe a little embarrassing, would have kept them in line. It's not just law enforcement, but other kinds of public officials, some of the high and mighty who learn their world is over and realize a little public exposure early on would have saved them."
If the allegations of beating and torture are true, then the sheriff, jail officials and all the officers who participated in "or stood idly by and did not stop the beating death" should "immediately resign," said attorney John Whitfield, who has joined attorney Michael W. Crosby in the estate case.
The lawsuit, which seeks $150 million for the estate and Williams' six children, claims police officers from Long Beach and Pass Christian and two nurses witnessed all or part of the beating.
"Many of the jailers there are good employees who have been demoralized by this," Whitfield said. "They want to see the right thing done. They want to be exonerated and not mischaracterized by what we believe are the actions of a few."
Williams' children deserve an apology, said Crosby.
"The sheriff, by not apologizing to the children, is telling them their father's life had no value," Crosby said. "We want justice for Jessie and justice for his children."
In similar cases in other states, official response and answers often come more quickly.
In Washington state, a day after a Spokane County jail inmate died in a fight with eight corrections officers, Sheriff Mark Sterk announced details of the Jan. 29 incident. Benites Saimon Sichiro, 39, was zapped by a Taser, his head covered by a hood and placed in a restraint chair, similar to what witnesses said was done to Williams.
In less than two weeks of Sichiro's death, the Spokane County sheriff released the deputies' names.
Payne has issued a press statement extending sympathy to Williams' family nearly five weeks from his death and has referred questions to investigating agencies. Payne's position "is to cooperate, not investigate," said his attorney, Cy Faneca.
District Attorney Cono Caranna also issued a statement but has declined to answer questions.
Phone calls from the Sun Herald have not been returned by Lt. Col. David Shaw of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, state Public Safety Commissioner George Phillips, FBI Special Agent John G. Raucci and U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton.
The Williams case is complicated by the fact of an ongoing investigation, but some of the facts, including names, are not harmful to the investigation and should be released, said Van Slyke.
"In dealing with law enforcement records, we are pretty much in the Dark Ages and the Legislature has had an opportunity to deal with that and has declined to do so. What it means on a daily basis to the average person is when you can't find out what's going on in your community - that's a real concern.
"I think the whole notion of keeping crime information secret, except in a clear case of need, is harmful to the public's confidence that law enforcement is in fact doing its job."
Van Slyke gave an example of a woman in North Mississippi whose daughter recently was killed in a traffic accident. The driver took his life before the case went to a grand jury. The law enforcement agency denied the mother's request to view the crime scene report because the manslaughter case was closed after the defendant's death.
"Why the secretiveness?" Van Slyke asked. "Did law enforcement handle something wrong?"
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
from the Mississippi Sun Herald [here]
GULFPORT - Secrecy in the case of a fatal beating at the Harrison County jail damages the public's trust because it doesn't hold public officials accountable, according to advocates of the public's right to know.
The numerous agencies investigating the death of Jessie Lee Williams Jr., beaten in the booking room on Feb. 4, are in open agreement on one aspect: when called for a comment, they have no comment, aren't available to comment or don't return a phone call for comment.
Their lips are sealed in the case, ruled a homicide by the Harrison County coroner. The suspected assailants and accessories are corrections officers, according to witnesses interviewed by the Sun Herald and attorneys for the Williams estate.
It's been nearly six weeks since Williams, 40, died after a brief detention on misdemeanor charges. Police promptly charged him with public drunk and simple assault on a minor when they received a call that night accusing him of pointing and aiming a weapon.
No charges have been filed in Williams' death and investigating agencies are not releasing details. Names of possible suspects were identified last week through the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit.
"When law enforcement keeps secrets, one has to wonder what the reason is," said Leonard Van Slyke, a Jackson media attorney who works with the Mississippi Center for the Freedom of Information.
According to the federal civil lawsuit filed by attorneys for Williams' estate, the jail has a history of abusive conduct, with 54 alleged incidents of abuse reported to jail officials last year. Of those, 22 allegedly occurred in the booking room and 11 involved Ryan Teel, the deputy witnesses have said unrelentingly beat and tortured Williams.
The lawsuit also identifies Deputies Regina Rhodes, Morgan Thompson and Leo DeGeorge as participants and names in the lawsuit jail officials including the sheriff and the county Board of supervisors.
Teel is no longer employed at the jail, but no one will say whether he quit or was fired.
Royce Hignight, a retired FBI agent, said accountability is a critical issue when law enforcement and public officials keep information secret.
"The less exposure there is, the more likely people are to try to hide things, the more likely they are to do wrong things which eventually are going to get them in trouble. In the long run, you don't do anybody any favors when you keep things private," Hignight said.
"I've seen a lot of grown men crying their eyes out when you put the handcuffs on them when something exposed earlier, something maybe a little embarrassing, would have kept them in line. It's not just law enforcement, but other kinds of public officials, some of the high and mighty who learn their world is over and realize a little public exposure early on would have saved them."
If the allegations of beating and torture are true, then the sheriff, jail officials and all the officers who participated in "or stood idly by and did not stop the beating death" should "immediately resign," said attorney John Whitfield, who has joined attorney Michael W. Crosby in the estate case.
The lawsuit, which seeks $150 million for the estate and Williams' six children, claims police officers from Long Beach and Pass Christian and two nurses witnessed all or part of the beating.
"Many of the jailers there are good employees who have been demoralized by this," Whitfield said. "They want to see the right thing done. They want to be exonerated and not mischaracterized by what we believe are the actions of a few."
Williams' children deserve an apology, said Crosby.
"The sheriff, by not apologizing to the children, is telling them their father's life had no value," Crosby said. "We want justice for Jessie and justice for his children."
In similar cases in other states, official response and answers often come more quickly.
In Washington state, a day after a Spokane County jail inmate died in a fight with eight corrections officers, Sheriff Mark Sterk announced details of the Jan. 29 incident. Benites Saimon Sichiro, 39, was zapped by a Taser, his head covered by a hood and placed in a restraint chair, similar to what witnesses said was done to Williams.
In less than two weeks of Sichiro's death, the Spokane County sheriff released the deputies' names.
Payne has issued a press statement extending sympathy to Williams' family nearly five weeks from his death and has referred questions to investigating agencies. Payne's position "is to cooperate, not investigate," said his attorney, Cy Faneca.
District Attorney Cono Caranna also issued a statement but has declined to answer questions.
Phone calls from the Sun Herald have not been returned by Lt. Col. David Shaw of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, state Public Safety Commissioner George Phillips, FBI Special Agent John G. Raucci and U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton.
The Williams case is complicated by the fact of an ongoing investigation, but some of the facts, including names, are not harmful to the investigation and should be released, said Van Slyke.
"In dealing with law enforcement records, we are pretty much in the Dark Ages and the Legislature has had an opportunity to deal with that and has declined to do so. What it means on a daily basis to the average person is when you can't find out what's going on in your community - that's a real concern.
"I think the whole notion of keeping crime information secret, except in a clear case of need, is harmful to the public's confidence that law enforcement is in fact doing its job."
Van Slyke gave an example of a woman in North Mississippi whose daughter recently was killed in a traffic accident. The driver took his life before the case went to a grand jury. The law enforcement agency denied the mother's request to view the crime scene report because the manslaughter case was closed after the defendant's death.
"Why the secretiveness?" Van Slyke asked. "Did law enforcement handle something wrong?"
