Posted on 06/08/2005 9:38:16 AM PDT by GPBurdell
SCLC plans protest in Gwinnett Taser case
By LATEEF MUNGIN The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 06/08/05
Members of a civil rights group say they will organize a protest march after a "heated" two-hour meeting Tuesday with Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter.
"We are going to shut Gwinnett County down," said Charles Steele Jr., president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, based in Atlanta.
Steele and several other SCLC members met with Porter to urge him to pursue criminal charges against deputies involved in the May 2004 death of Frederick Williams. Williams, a Lawrenceville resident, died after he was repeatedly shocked with a Taser stun gun as deputies at the Gwinnett County Jail worked to restrain him.
The SCLC is the second national civil rights group to meet with Porter in recent weeks about the case. Members of the Gwinnett branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People spoke with Porter last month. Both organizations have said they are concerned with how Porter presented the case to a grand jury in April and have urged the district attorney to reopen the investigation.
Steele said he was angered with the outcome of Tuesday's two-hour meeting and that Porter would not agree to take the Williams case to a grand jury a second time.
"We are very disappointed that we could not come to a resolution with this issue," Steele said outside the Gwinnett courthouse. "We are calling for a national march here in Gwinnett. "
Steele said he believes racism played a role in how the case was handled. Williams was African-American.
Porter presented the investigation to a grand jury in April but did not present to jurors a videotape that showed a deputy stunning Williams — who was handcuffed and manacled — with the Taser, an electroshock weapon. Porter said in recent interviews that he offered to show jurors the tape, but they declined.
The grand jury was not asked to consider criminal charges against any specific deputies. Instead, the jurors were asked to use Williams' case to consider whether to investigate the county's policies for Taser use.
Porter said race did not play a role in his handling of the case.
"I think my prosecutorial track record speaks for itself," he said. "I am not a racist. And this case has nothing to do with race. I have to make my decisions based on the evidence and the law."
Porter said the SCLC and the NAACP have requested he reopen the investigation. The SCLC is asking that he put the case in front of a new grand jury, which convenes in September, Porter said.
The NAACP is asking that Porter empanel a special grand jury to consider criminal charges.
Porter said he asked the two groups to form a consensus and send him a letter.
He said he would make a decision in 10 days after receiving it.
Steele called the meeting with Porter a "very heated conversation" and said he plans to organize a march in Gwinnett within two weeks.
Buzz
Buzz Blog
No, but Rev. Joseph Lowery is.
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.