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THE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS:
CIVIL:
On March 14, 2006, a Civil law suit was filed on behalf of Jessie Lee Williams, Jr.’s family in the U.S. District Court. We identified the names of the individuals that our independent investigation revealed abused and tortured Jessie on February 4, 2006. Part of the lawsuit described a pattern of conduct in the booking room in which the arrestees were abused, the administration was aware of the abuse, and nothing was done to stop it. Further, by not immediately firing certain officers, and allowing them to continue to draw their pay when they have all the proof they need to prosecute, the lack of official response continued to send disturbing signals to the deputies and to the community. When this happened, the officers either implicitly or explicitly began to believe that the abuse was acceptable and perhaps even encouraged. While gathering information from witnesses, I was careful not to reveal the identity of the particular booking officers in order to insure that the witnesses who came to me with information, told me what they saw, and not simply what they thought I wanted to prove. As tomorrow will mark to fortieth day after the homicide, it is time for action. Fasten your seat belts!

OLDER NEWS, READ BELOW:

CRIMINAL:
The F.B.I (228-864-6131) and M.B.I. (228-539-4881) in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Office (228-865-4003) are investigating the death of Jessie Lee Williams, Jr. resulting from the events on February 4, 2006 at the Harrison County Adult Detention Facility. The case is still under investigation.
CIVIL:
An estate was opened in the Chancery Court of Harrison County, Mississippi, First Judicial District - Civil Action No. 2006-0346-1. As part of the civil investigation, the Administrator issued a subpoena for records and video’s, etc., to the Sheriff and City of Gulfport. They have filed objections to producing the same.
The Chancery Court judge quashed (set aside) the subpoenas for the video tapes, etc. depicting the events resulting in Jessie’s death. The representative from the District Attorney’s Office advised the Judge that giving Jessie’s Administrator the videos would impede the criminal investigation - although they stated no particular reason why, after a month, releasing the video of the actual events would impede the investigation. The Judge advised that he would consider the request for videos again, but he did not want to proceed upon the subpoenas themselves, but instead decide upon the filing of a formal pleading for discovery. Jessie’s family has decided that the most expedient way to obtain the video tapes and finalize the legal proceedings is to file a lawsuit in federal court under section 1983 (i.e. deprivation of constitutional rights under the color of state law).

Medical - Jessie’s Toxicology, which was just obtained from Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, revealed that Jessie was not on drugs, and although he had consumed alcohol, he was within the legal limits for driving. (i.e. .76 %). Further, the Death Summary report, which was also just obtained from the hospital indicates that Jessie was already in a coma at the time he arrived at the hospital, and because the severe hemorrhage and inability to control the hemorrhage, the bone flap was left out and the wound simply closed.
On the night that Jessie was beaten to death at the jail, there were two nurses on duty. After Jessie was strapped into the restraining chair, the nurses were called to check on him. They made four pages of notes, and the details are most disturbing.