Jesse Jackson calls for answers in Chavis Carter Death: Says Jonesboro Police "Houdini Justice" Unacceptable

From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 8/23/12 Jonesboro police on Wednesday released a preliminary narrative of their investigation into the fatal July 28 shooting of a man handcuffed in a patrol car as the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke in Jonesboro and Memphis about the death, which officials have ruled suicide. The nature of the gunshot wound, "high velocity" blood spatters on Chavis Chacobie Carter's right hand and the rear door of the police car, and witness statements support the conclusion that Carter's death was suicide, the police narrative said.

Carter's girlfriend - who was not named in the report - told the department's primary investigator that Carter, 21, called her from the police car and "told her that he loved her and that he had a gun on him (in the rear of the police car) and that he was scared," the narrative said.

Meanwhile in Jonesboro, Jackson held a prayer vigil with Carter's family on Haltom Street, where the Southaven, Miss., man was shot. Jackson also led a march of about 300 people from the shooting site to the Jonesboro Justice Complex about 2 miles away.  "[Carter] was searched twice by police," Jackson said. "He was in a police car, handcuffed, and he was able to shoot himself? We do not accept this." Jackson said the Jonesboro Police Department's sporadic release of information over the past two weeks has raised too many questions. "It's Houdini justice," he said.

Upon the release of a state Crime Laboratory autopsy that ruled Carter's death suicide, many questioned whether Carter's hands had been tested for gunshot residue.

Though officers bagged Carter's hands in an effort to preserve residue, the Crime Laboratory did not test for it because of an internal policy that the agency "will not analyze gunshot residue kits collected from victims of homicides or suicides," the police release said.

The policy, detailed in a March 21 Crime Laboratory memorandum, says suspects' hands should not be tested for residue if "six hours have passed since the time of the incident." The memorandum said half of suicide victims test negative for gunshot residue and that residue may be detected on hands if someone handled a gun without firing it or if he was in close proximity to a gun fired by another person.

Benjamin Irwin, an attorney for Carter's family, called the lack of a residue test "further proof that the search for critical evidence has been overlooked." "We're not saying it's not accurate," Irwin later added about the Wednesday narrative. "We're saying show us the facts." Other evidence points to Carter as the one who fired the gun that night, the police narrative said.

Autopsy photos show marks on Carter's arms and wrist similar to marks photographed on officers who re-enacted in a video how a handcuffed person might lift a gun to his head, the Police Department release said.

In addition, officers and bystanders have said the patrol car's doors and windows were closed and that officers were not near the car until Carter was discovered, the narrative said.

"This virtually eliminates any possibility that the fatal wound was caused by any weapon other than the one recovered in the rear of the vehicle and that its discharge was caused by Carter," the narrative said.

Brandon Renald Baker, an acquaintance of Carter's who police identified through a video on his cell phone, said Wednesday that Carter had a small black handgun "consistent with that used in Carter's death," the police narrative said.

Baker, jailed on an aggravated-burglary charge at the Greene County jail, said Carter bought the gun from a Jonesboro woman who was "having domestic issues," the narrative said. The gun had been stolen from a Jonesboro man who reported it was taken during a family gathering, the narrative said.

Baker told police he sent Carter a text message, asking him to bring the gun along on the night of his death, when he was involved in a marijuana drug deal, the police narrative said.

Irwin questioned again Wednesday how police officers did not find the gun after searching Carter twice.

Jonesboro police said "there appears to be no doubt" that officer Ron Marsh missed the gun during his initial pat-down of Carter.

Marsh then placed Carter in the police car, "apparently unhandcuffed," before the officers discovered Carter had an active warrant, removed him from the car and searched him a second time before handcuffing him and returning him to the vehicle, the narrative said.

"It is presumed that Carter secreted the gun in the rear of the car after the pat down but before the cuffing and second search," it said.

Jackson and Irwin also questioned gaps in the dashboard camera audio and video recordings the department has released.

The police narrative said the recording units in both patrol cars involved the night of Carter's death were among 33 older units the department is gradually replacing because of problems with the body-carry wireless microphones and cameras. Those units do not provide video of the back seat, the narrative said.

Officer Keith Baggett's video and audio, activated when he turned on his blue lights to pursue Carter, functioned the whole time, the narrative said.

Video from Marsh, the second officer to arrive on the scene, is "useless" because his camera was pointed at a streetlight or the headlights of another car, it said. His audio appeared to fail during his second search of Carter, the narrative said.

Both officers remain on paid administrative leave.

The officers can be seen on Baggett's video, standing in front of his car, at the time police believe Carter shot himself, the narrative said, attributing a lack of audio to a malfunction of Marsh's equipment.

"It's a malfunction of justice," Jackson said Wednesday evening.

Wednesday morning in Memphis, Jackson held a news conference and questioned the police's investigation and evidence. Afterward, he met with black church leaders in Jonesboro before visiting the shooting site.

About 100 people gathered there on Haltom Street east of downtown Jonesboro as Jackson and Carter's mother, Teresa Carter, prayed for healing and justice.

The crowd swelled to about 300 as it marched down Matthews Avenue, past St. Bernards Medical Center - where Carter died in the early hours of July 29 - and on to the police station.

As Jackson spoke in short bursts, the crowd repeated his words in a chant.

Several times, he said, "Keep hope alive," a phrase he made popular during an emotional speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta.

The crowd chanted the phrase after Jackson.

It was the second march in Jonesboro in two days. Members of the Memphis-based Commission on Racism and Religion led about 15 people on a similar march Tuesday.

The police investigation into Carter's death continues, the department's Wednesday release said.

"In the course of most death investigations, we would not normally release such a preliminary report but would instead choose to wait until the case is complete," the release said. "In this case, the media, the public and the family of Mr. Carter and the families of the officers involved as well need resolution as soon as possible."