HATTIESBURG -- Attorneys resumed questioning jurors after lunch today before deciding which will hear the criminal case of former Harrison County jailers Ryan Teel and Rick Gaston.
Of 54 people called in for jury duty, 18 said they had heard or read about the case in media reports from the Coast to Jackson. Prosecutors this morning asked jurors if they believed law enforcement officer are above the law and if they personally knew any of the defendants or any witnesses named from a long list in court. The jury will not be sequestered.
The gallery is filled to capacity including relatives of Teel, Gaston and Jessie Lee Williams Jr., the inmate who was beaten in the jail booking room and subsequently died. Other incidents of alleged abuse are expected to be detailed in testimony. U.S. District Judge Louis Louis Guirola Jr. anticipates the opening argument will be presented this afternoon.
Omodare Jupiter, a member of Gaston's defense team, asked for a continuance which Guirola denied.
Williams died on Feb. 6, 2006, as a result of injuries sustained during an assault in the Harrison County jail booking room. His death is part of the case being brought against Teel and Gaston.
A five-count indictment alleges Teel, Gaston and others conspired to abuse inmates, bragged about it and covered up the illegal acts between Feb. 8, 2005, through at least March 8, 2006. However, in plea agreements with other former jailers, federal trial attorneys have said they could prove a pattern of abuse existed at the Harrison County jail since at least 2001.
A section of the indictment entitled "overt acts" alleges the abuse of other inmates, with instances identified by dates and inmates' initials. According to the indictment, many of the incidents took place in the booking-area shower room, which has no surveillance cameras.
The videotaped beating of Williams, filmed from several cameras in the booking room, will be made public at trial. The court has denied the Sun Herald's requests for copies of the tapes and of inmate grievances, though the documents were determined to be public records in a Chancery Court ruling.
Check back with sunherald.com for more on the trial today, and read the print version Tuesday for complete coverage.
E-Mail
Print
@Nyx.CommentBody@