GULFPORT -- The sheriff and MDPS agreed to give the Sun Herald copies of the requested documents, but said they had none left to copy.
The Sun Herald filed a series of motions in federal court for the records' release. Last week the presiding federal judge agreed to release copies to the newspaper; he provided them Tuesday.
The video shows Williams brought in with hands cuffed behind his back and pushed by officers as he stepped away from a wall. His cuffs were removed and he was standing at the booking counter when Teel delivered a punt-style kick. The tape shows Williams leaning away from the blow.
At trial Teel said he kicked Williams because Williams failed to obey an order to keep his hands on the booking counter. Others said Williams was complying with an order to remove his shoes.
A clash followed the kick, and Teel stunned Williams with a Taser while Williams lay face down with two jailers holding him immobilized. Teel claimed he feared for his life. He was 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds at the time. Williams was 5-foot-6 and weighted 160 pounds. Teel said he used the Taser on the inmate because he wouldn't give up an arm to be re-handcuffed.
The tape shows Williams was re-cuffed. And as ex-jailer Regina Rhodes testified, "There was no need for us to be hitting Mr. Williams by the time he was restrained. It should have been over."
But it wasn't over. Teel hog-tied Williams, sprayed a spit mask with pepper spray and covered Williams' face with it. Teel carried him like a suitcase to a restraint chair placed in the hallway. Teel and others strapped him down in the chair.
Several witnesses said Teel threatened to kill Williams.
Teel admitted striking Williams while the inmate was strapped to the chair. Teel said Williams was moving his legs and kicked him in the groin.
The tape shows a nurse checking on Williams. Officers resumed their activities. An inmate worker mopped blood and pepper spray from the floor. A detainee stood against the wall, awaiting his turn at the booking counter.
The tape ends after an ambulance crew arrives to take Williams' lifeless body to a hospital. According to neurosurgeon James Doty, Williams was brain dead when Doty evaluated him at 2:30 a.m.
Teel, 30, claimed he used only the level of force needed to gain control of Williams. His former co-workers disagreed.
Teel is being held at an undisclosed location. He faces a life prison sentence when he appears before the judge Nov. 1. Eight former jailers with plea agreements will be sentenced Nov. 5.
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