I-TEAM UPDATE: Richmond County jail incident lawsuit moves to federal court

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -The I-TEAM has learned three civil rights lawsuits alleging unlawful torture against the Richmond County sheriff and six of his former deputies have been moved to federal court.

The lawsuits were originally filed back in May in Richmond County Superior Court.

All three name Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree and the six now-former deputies he fired connected to an incident at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center.

The incident happened on May 7, 2022.

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The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Division said it was only made aware of it back in February of this year, a short body cam video clip in July 2023, but it appears our questions and reporting fell on deaf ears.

According to Dantavion Jones, John Whitaker and Melissa Morello were arrested.

Whitaker had retired since the incident. The other five were fired.

A source gave what happened that day.

You can watch the raw video here. Inmates at the jail who have not been to trial are presumed innocent, so we are protecting their identities.

The suit claims the deputies handcuffed the inmates, picked them up, took them down to the first floor, and pushed them to lie face down, but the floor was flooded.

From there, the lawsuit claims the deputies started to physically abuse the plaintiffs.

All three inmates accuse the deputies of violating their civil rights, including their 8th Amendment right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.

The cases will all now move forward in U.S. District Court.

Because it’s a federal court, we will not be able to have cameras in the courtroom, but our I-TEAM will be watching this very closely and let you know what happens.

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