Lawyers, family of man who died after being shocked with Taser by Raleigh police wants justice
Attorneys representing the family of a man who died while Raleigh police tried to take him into custody are demanding the officers explain and justify their actions.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Emancipate North Carolina attorney Dawn Blagrove and Attorney Kenneth Abbarno of the law firm DiCello LeVitt spoke Friday afternoon at Mount Peace Baptist Church on behalf of Darryl Williams’ family.
Williams died in January while officers tried to take him into custody. Officers shocked Williams three times with a Taser and he later died, despite yelling that he had a heart condition. The Raleigh native was 32.
"He was not lying," Crump said. "I do not know why … when Black people tell police officers that we have medical issues why they don’t believe us."
Williams’ attorneys meet with Wake County DA
Crump said he and other lawyers met with Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman on Friday morning to discuss the case.
Freeman’s office will decide whether the officers involved will face criminal charges, but that decision could take months.
Blagrove said Freeman told them in their private meeting that she couldn’t decide whether to pursue criminal charges against the involved officers without a completed autopsy and a completed toxicology report.
"We have reached out to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to try to get a determination of when we can expect this," Freeman said. "Right now, we are hopeful that we may have it some point next month."
"This is a matter that is still under investigation and review by our office," Freeman said. "And, once that process is complete, we will be making a decision about how to move forward, and at that time, we will be in a position to share that with the public."
Freeman said she understands Williams’ family is grieving and wants to have access to information. She said it is why she and her office met Friday morning with the Williams’ family and lawyers.
"I want you all to realize what the fight here in North Carolina is really about," Blagrove said. "It is about district attorneys, who have so much power and so much control, that they get to determine whether or not they are going to wrap themselves and their office around real community safety."
WRAL News also reached out to the Raleigh Police Department on Friday with a request for comment but did not hear back.
On Friday, Blagrove pleaded for Freeman to begin her investigation when officers first encountered Williams.
"If, as we believe, there was no lawful arrest, there was no lawful interaction, then that changes the law that is applicable to the case," Blagrove said.
Crump said Freeman told them in their private meeting that she only looked at the time the officers used Tasers.
However, Freeman told WRAL News that her office will analyze the totality of the incident, including the use of the Taser.
"We look at the entire event, the totality of the circumstances," Freeman said. "The determination as to whether the use of force is lawful or not, or gives rise to a criminal offense and that analysis … the deployment of the Taser is the use of force, and so, that is what will be evaluated."
"But we look at the entire incident and take into consideration all of the evidence connected to it."
Crump said he understood a person’s Fifth Amendment rights against forced self-incrimination. However, he asked Raleigh police to reveal whether officers followed the departments’ policies and protocols.
Also, Crump said the Williams family would consider a civil suit against the involved Raleigh police officers if criminal charges aren’t pursued.
"We’re going to pursue every possible legal remedy possible for [Williams’ mother] Sonya Williams," Crump said.
Abbarno echoed Crump’s sentiments about whether the officers followed department policies.
"We want to have the police officers talk about what happened that night, and not hide behind the shield or whatever they have that precludes them from being forced to talk," Abbarno said.
Abbarno questioned the reasonableness of Raleigh police’s Taser deployment and how many times officers deployed Tasers on Williams.
"They can’t be forced to talk in the system that’s going on right now," he said. "They can refuse to comment on what happened that night."
"And, odds are, if that happens, do any charges get filed if they refuse to say anything? They can hide there. It’s time to stop hiding."
WRAL News asked Blagrove how Raleigh police could be more transparent considering the prior release of officers' body cam video and the department's five-day report.
"They could tell the truth," Blagrove said. "They could be truthful about what happened. They could disclose, with the permission of the officers, whether or not these particular officers have had long disciplinary records."
"They could disclose whether or not they have seen patterns with the officers that are involved. There is lots of information that the Raleigh Police Department could offer to the community, but most importantly, they could offer an apology to the Williams family."
Blagrove specifically called for Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson to call and apologize to Williams’ mother.
"If the justice system worked in Wake County for every citizen the way it works for Raleigh Police Department officers, we might have equity," Blagrove said. "We might have fairness."
Crump also spoke out against specialized police units.
"That’s why we have the tragic death of Darryl Tyree Williams because they gave a license to the Raleigh police officers to go out and just brutalize people in the Black community under this ‘police proactive policing,'" Crump said. "Do you proactively police the white community?"
Crump, Blagrove and Abbarno declined to discuss the extent of Williams’ heart condition, citing the ongoing investigation with Freeman’s office.
Abbarno said there is evidence Williams had heart issues. He said the autopsy would show that too.
On Friday, Freeman would not say whether Williams had a heart condition.
"It is about accountability and the citizens have a say so in this," Crump said. "Just think about if Darryl was your child and saying, ‘I have a heart condition,’ and being Tased multiple times."
Raleigh police previously released body cam footage and five-day report
In February, Raleigh police released body camera footage of Williams' arrest. The police department released 14 videos, along with a memo on the city of Raleigh's website that provided links to each video, as well as a compilation.
In January, Raleigh police released a five-day report about the Jan. 17 interaction on Rock Quarry Road near Merrywood Drive. According to the report, officers suspected Williams had alcohol and marijuana in the car and asked to search it. Inside Williams' car, officers found drugs and two guns, one of which had been reported stolen.
"I don’t know how you don’t consider the charge of criminal negligence when a man tells you, 'I have a heart condition,' and you again Tase him multiple times," Crump said. "I mean, where’s the humanity?"
Text overlay on the body cam video shows an officer found a folded dollar bill with a white substance consistent with the appearance of cocaine in Williams’ pocket. The officer then makes the decision to arrest Williams. Then, Williams breaks away and runs while officers tell him to get on the ground.
An officer warns, “Stop or you’ll get tased.”
Less than a second later, you hear someone yell, "Taser!" and they hit Williams with the stun gun, and he falls to the ground shouting, "I'm not doing nothing!"
Multiple officers can be seen on top of Williams, trying to arrest him. He breaks away and runs again. Officers catch him after a few seconds, and push him to the ground, commanding him to get down and put his hands behind his back.
As officers hold Williams down, they warn him if he keeps resisting, he will be hit with the Taser again.
"I've got heart problems!" Williams shouted. "Please!"
Police can be seen hitting him with the Taser again.
Williams was hit with a Taser three times in all.
