I-TEAM UPDATE: Augusta DA responds to Richmond County jail incident emails
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Our I-TEAM continues to investigate an incident at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center connected to the arrests of multiple law enforcement officers.
The FBI confirmed Thursday it is aware of the matter.
We’ve confirmed Melissa Morello’s arrest to the others, but a source gave our I-TEAM a copy of some of her body-worn camera from that incident.
No word yet if – or when – more arrests could be coming.
For example, in the video, you can see a deputy kick or stomp an inmate. So far, it doesn’t appear he is facing charges like the others yet.
This video is important because it gives the public a chance to see what happened.
When ed by News 12, to see if the FBI is getting involved in the case, the agency said:
“FBI Atlanta is aware of the situation.”
That’s unusual because the agency rarely confirms or denies involvement in a case.
In fact, News 12 only recalls a couple of times in the past year the agency has acknowledged being “aware” of a situation.
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The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is investigating itself, and because it directly involves Richmond County deputies, that could be considered a conflict of interest.
This incident happened almost two years ago. The only reason you’re seeing it is because a source gave it to the I-TEAM – not because the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office released it.
Now, new emails are shedding new light on who could have known about this incident and when.
Even though Internal Affairs said it only learned about the incident involving “unruly” inmates last week, the I-TEAM first reported it six months ago.
While we didn’t have this body camera video back then, another source gave us a short clip that showed a deputy punching an inmate and then tackling him with his arm around the inmate’s neck. We first raised questions back in July about what happened and why no one was disciplined.
The sheriff’s office is not the only agency that can bring charges.
The District Attorney can.
EARLIER COVERAGE:
- Video sheds light on jail incident that spurred arrests of multiple law enforcement officers
- A look at the details in recent Richmond County investigators’ arrest
The I-TEAM emailed Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams back in August. We sent him the clip we had and asked him if it was on his radar.
He wrote the following response on August 16, 2023: “As for your question regarding possible charges at the jail, I cannot provide comment at this time.”
Three months later, DA Williams received another email with another clip of this same incident.
This marked the second time this incident was brought to DA Williams’ attention, but he doesn’t see it that way.
In an email on Wednesday, DA Williams wrote: “The first time I reviewed the video of the incident at the jail was last Friday, February 9th, 2024. That very same day, I recommended charges against the officers involved.”
As for the clip the I-TEAM sent in back in August, DA Williams also had this to say in his email: “I do not recall clicking the link back in August, but in doing so today, I find that it sends me to an out of context, a 13-second clip that appears to be a cell phone recording of another video screen. I do not initiate criminal proceedings based solely upon the suggestion of the media.”
DA Williams its he “likely disregarded” the email from Quincy Cannon.
That’s because, he wrote, he “understood he was suing or intending to sue” the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
Cannon was arrested after a suspect accused him of punching him in an elevator at the sheriff’s office.
Cannon says he did what he was trained to do when that suspect headbutted him.
DA Williams took the case to a Grand Jury. The Grand Jury cleared Cannon of all charges. DA Williams signed documents expunging the charges from Cannon’s record.
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DA Williams wrote the following on Wednesday: “Put simply, I initiate criminal proceedings only when a credible law enforcement partner or source provides information that can be acted upon.”
With that, it would appear the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office never brought this case to the District Attorney until last week.
The I-TEAM reached out to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday just after receiving the video from a source.
We have yet to hear back.
We let Sheriff Richard Roundtree know, as always, that the door is open if he would like to sit down for an interview. We hope one day he will take us up on that offer.
As for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office investigating itself, the I-TEAM has questioned this many times before. We’ve asked why there isn’t a citizen review board to look into incidents just like this one.
We will continue to follow this story as it develops.
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