Withheld videotape lets DA buck justice (AJC re: taser death)

[struggle4progress]

<snip> Williams, who had suffered epilepsy since a toddler, suffered a psychotic breakdown a year ago, was arrested after a struggle and taken to the Gwinnett County Jail. In a bizarre chain of events, Williams died of a heart attack after he was hit with a Taser stun gun five times in 43 seconds, even though at the time he was handcuffed behind his back, his legs were bound to a chair restraint and he was pinned down by a half-dozen officers.

Initially, Porter promised Williams' family a grand jury inquiry, a pledge he proved reluctant to keep. Almost a year later, when Porter finally did convene a grand jury, he did not seek indictments, nor did he bother to show the grand jury a videotape of the deadly incident taken by a sheriff's deputy. Instead, he says, he asked jurors whether they wanted to open an inquiry into the jail's policy regarding Taser use, and they declined.

That decision not to show jurors the videotape has drawn considerable criticism. However, documents obtained through the state Open Records Act suggest there's a lot of other interesting evidence they never saw either. <snip>

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/2005/051205.html