Posted on Wed, Aug. 29, 2007

The Sun Herald on Tuesday made public the videotaped beating of a Harrison County jail inmate whose death 18 months ago spawned a federal investigation and a growing list of civil lawsuits.

Until the recent trial of two former jailers, the graphic images of what happened under color of law to Jessie Lee Williams Jr. have been kept secret, sealed by federal court orders. U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. made the video available in response to the Sun Herald's public-records requests and a resulting lawsuit that asked for the documents to be unsealed and returned to the public domain.

The public's first access to the video of Williams' beating was at sunherald.com, where it was posted Tuesday afternoon.

Filmed by booking-room surveillance cameras, the tape has no sound, but shows pictures snapped every two or three seconds from the time Williams was brought in to the booking room at 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2006 until an ambulance crew picked him up around midnight.

Jurors in a nine-day trial ending Aug. 17 found former jailer Ryan Teel guilty of conspiring to deprive inmates' rights, using unnecessary, excessive force in Williams' fatal beating and obstructing justice by writing a false report. Williams, 40, of Gulfport, died of brain trauma. Co-defendant Rick Gaston was acquitted of a conspiracy charge and other assaults that didn't involve Williams.

Nine former jailers await sentencing in the federal investigation, which, according to prosecutors, proves a culture of violence existed at the Harrison County jail and may produce another indictment.

The release of the video for public view marks the conclusion of months of legal action by the Sun Herald in efforts to restore public records to the people of Harrison County and shed light on what has been taking place behind the bars of the county jail.

The Sun Herald began filing public-records requests in search of answers within days of Williams' death. In October 2006 the FBI seized thousands of pages of records from the jail without making copies. That December the Sun Herald filed public-records requests that led to a lawsuit in Chancery Court.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Gulf Publishing Co., which publishes the Sun Herald and is a subsidiary of The McClatchy Co. Named as defendants were Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which includes the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

The newspaper won a key decision in May when Chancery Judge Jim Persons ruled the records requested are public records and the newspaper was wrongfully denied access to them in violation of the state's public-records laws.

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.