MS judge denies deputy’s request to seal camera footage in fatal shooting. Here’s more
A federal judge in Gulfport has denied a request to seal and restrict public access to camera footage of the Dec. 10, 2022, killing of a Florida college student in an encounter with three Hancock County sheriff’s deputies.
Magistrate Judge Robert Myers issued the ruling last Monday after he viewed camera footage of the shooting that resulted in the death of Isaiah Winkley, a 21-year-old senior at Pensacola Christian College.
“The public’s interest in disclosure of the video outweighs any purported privacy interest,” the judge said in his ruling, adding that Winkley’s family had already waived any privacy interest against public disclosure.
“On the other hand, the video footage is of significance to the public’s interest in the activity of law enforcement and its use of force,” Myers said in the order denying the request.
Former Hancock County Sheriff’s K-9 Deputy Michael Blackwell made the request.
Blackwell is the admitted shooter in the encounter with Winkley. He submitted the camera footage, and an affidavit defending his actions the day of the shooting, in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Winkley’s family in federal court in Gulfport.
It’s unclear why Blackwell has a copy of the camera footage of the shooting, because the case is pending the results of any grand jury review of the evidence.
Sean Tindell, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations did not turn the footage over to Blackwell. MBI independently investigates all police shootings in the state and operates under the direction of the MDPS.
Blackwell, with his police K-9 and Hancock County Sheriff’s Lt. Christopher Sholar and Deputy Lauralyn Yagar, are the deputies who responded to a report of a burglary in progress and encountered Winkley the day of the killing.
Blackwell said he recalls firing four rounds at Winkley.
In the affidavit, Blackwell said he fired at Winkley from over 8 feet away because Winkley was walking toward him with a metal T-post used for fencing and screaming, “Shoot me.”
Blackwell said he wasn’t sure if Winkley had managed to get his hands on a gun.
Winkley did not have a gun, the reports say.
Blackwell said he didn’t unleash his police K-9, a German Shepherd named Dark, to try to capture Winkley. Instead, he had the K-9 tied to a 30-foot tracking line.
Blackwell said his police training taught him not to send the K-9 into a “deadly force” encounter.
Blackwell said he fired the shots after the deputies had already used a Taser on Winkley several times, and Winkley still managed to get back up.
In the months after the shooting, Blackwell lost his job at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.
This month, a federal grand jury has been hearing testimony in the case, including testimony from the Hancock County deputies who responded to the shooting along with Blackwell.
As a result, Blackwell’s attorney, Jamie Lee, filed new court papers last week asking the judge to reconsider his decision to make the footage public, citing in part the Sun Herald reporting on federal grand jury hearing evidence in the case to determine if any criminal wrongdoing occurred.
Judge Myers has not ruled on Blackwell’s new motion to get the judge to seal the footage.
Sun Herald attorney Henry Laird filed court papers asking to intervene in the federal case to argue against any restriction to public access.
The case is still pending review by a state grand jury to determine if state charges apply in the case. The findings of the independent probe by MBI has already been turned over to Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office to await further action, Tindell said.
Fitch has denied Sun Herald requests for additional information in the case.
This story was originally published December 11, 2023 at 10:04 AM.
