Mathew Ajibade Case (Full list of documents)

8/20/2019 Mathew Ajibade Case (Full list of documents)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mathew-ajibade-case-full-list-of-documents 1/75

vs.

CRIS-139S-JS

CRIS-1396-JS

JASON KENNY,

CRIS-1397-JS

MAXINE EVANS,

GREGORY BROWN,

Defendants.

ORDER

ON MOTION FOR GAG

ORDER

AND

MOTION TO DISMISS AND MOTION TO INTERVENE

Before the Court is a Motion for a Gag Order filed by the District Attorney

of

the Eastern

Judicial Circuit and a Motion to Intervene filed by WSAV . Having read and considered said

motions, Special Appearance Response in Opposition to State s Motion for Imposition

of

Gag

Order, all argument and evidence

of

record 2and the applicable law, including that presented at

the hearings on July 8, 20 IS the Court finds as follows:

FINDINGS OF FACT

Defendants in the above styled case were indicted on June 24, 20 IS

The

indictments

The Court considered the arguments in the Motion to Intervene filed by

WSA

V, as well

as the State s response to the motion.

The

Court has considered the newspaper articles submitted in exhibits

one

and two and

additionally considered the flash drive provided by WSA V as those documents were properly

authenticated. The Court did not consider the disks

of

the Claiborne interview which were

attached to Exhibit 2 nor did it consider the disk attached to the

WTOC

affidavit as those disks

were not properly authenticated.



arose out

of

the death

of Matthew

Ajibade, an inmate at the

Chatham County

Jail.

Also

pending

is CV15-0441 styled

l St

Lawrence

Sheriff

a/Chatham County Georgia

and

Meg Heap

District Attorney

vs WSA V Inc and

A den ike Hannah Ajibade

and

Solomon Oludamisi Ajibade

which concerns the disclosure

of

certain documents and records related to the investigation.

Formerly pending

was

CV15-0532 styled Adenike Hannah Ajidabe Solomon Oludamisi Ajidabe

and Christopher Oladapo

vs

Meg Heap

in

Her Capacity as Eastern Judicial Circuit District

Attorney which was filed by attorney Will Claiborne on June 9, 2015 in an

attempt

to have the

district attorney disqualified from investigating or presenting criminal charges related to the

death

of

Matthew Ajibade.

This

action was subsequently dismissed by

order

of

the Court on

July 2, 2015.

The State filed the instant Motion for Gag Order in which it seeks a gag order against the

parties and counsel for and all agents

of

all parties, including attorneys for the

victim s

family

and the Defendants.

They

argue that counsel for the victim s family have made extrajudicial

comments addressing potential trial issues to various media outlets and they attach a number

of

articles in support

of

their contentions.

Counsel for Defendant Maxine Evans argued that there is no evidence before the Court to

support any motion for gag order against any

of

the Defendants.

Counsel for Adenike Hannah Ajibade, Solomon Oludamisi Ajibade and Christopher

Oladapo filed a Special Appearance Response in Opposition to the State s Motion for Imposition

of

a Gag Order in which he argues that the

State s

Motion should be denied for the following

three reasons: (1) the Court may restrain only those parties and lawyers involved in the above

captioned proceedings; (2) the State failed to allege any facts to

support

its assertion that counsel

2



for the victim's family are subject to the Court's exercise of its equitable power in these

proceedings; and (3) counsel for the

victim's

family has a constitutionally protected right to

speak critically of the government's handling of a case.

WSAV filed a Motion to Intervene in the action for the limi ted purpose of opposing the

State's Motion for Imposition of a Gag Order.

At the hearing on the motion for gag order, the State submi tted a

number

of newspaper

articles. William

Claiborne

and

Mark

O'Mara, both attorneys for the family of Matthew

Ajibade, are quoted in the various articles.

Some

of

the statements

attributable to Claiborne, although not

exhaustive,

are as follows:

(1) [t]he fact that nine people were fired tells us how terrible this incident was. But the family

still has no answers about

what

happened to Matthew.

We

again call on the sheriff and DA to be

transparent while

we

seek

justice

for Matthew. ; (2) You have to be beyond incompetent to have

tried to get that charge and have failed." We need a fair and impartial prosecutor. (3)

The

family was very distressed to learn the cause and manner of death from their

son's

death

certificate.; (4) Right now because the family has been given no info as to what happened they

can't do anything but grieve. They can't have an opinion about

what

this means that these people

were let go. Except that what happened to their son was truly horrific." ; (5) He said that the

sheriff

s office has been too

slow

to release infonnation in the case.

I expect

that all

of

the

people who have committed any criminal act should be charged, that if anyone took steps to

enact a policy tha (sic) this to occur, that that individual be charged. ; (6) The family is very

distressed to learn that their son was murdered at the jail, with the release, the leak of the death

certificate." We have been asking since January for openness, we have been asking for

3



transparency. You saw here yet again the sheriff refusing to provide information." "They should

simply be humane and tell this family what happened

to

their son."; (7) "Every piece

of

information this family has received about their son has been on the news media, or today, Face

book." If he was in a holding cell with blunt force trauma for two hours, why wasn't h

checked in?" ; (8) For at least two hours, Matthew was in a holding cell after apparently having

sustained significant blunt force trauma, after apparently having been tased while in full

restraints."; (9) "You don't just punish the infantry men who fired the fatal shot, you punish the

general who made the call." If the sheriff had a cu( sic) of violence in his j ail, then he needs to

be the subject

of

an investigation and

it

appe(sic) me that due

to

personal relationship and

political relationships, the DA

is

choosing

to

engage in that type of investigation." ; (l0) [i]fthe

district attorney is not willing to then we have no choice but to go to court and bring those

conflicts

to

light."

We're

specifically concerned that the investigation needs

to

go from the top

down of the sheriff solely on the individuals who may have made bad decisions and engaged

in

criminal conduct.

...

"

Some

of

the statements attributable

to

Mark Q'Mara, although not exhaustive, are as

follows: (I) There's no blame yet. There are

just

a lot of questions."; (2)

Matthew

was going

places, and they were good places. And we need to know why he's never going to get there."; (3)

If this guy is in boxing stance, getting some good jabs in, maybe that's not mental illness. If

he's swinging around crazy and his mental illness affected what was going on, that's what they're

supposed

to

be trained to deal with." If you break a cop's nose, yes, it's a felony, you're going

to get charged, fine.

What's

not supposed

to

happen are injuries caused to a guy because he hit a

cop- and it ends up killing him. If that's what happened, that's first degree murder." "You don't

4



die from bipolar disorder in a restraining chair." "

If

he had bee white, would the cops have

listened

to

his girlfriend and taken him

to

the hospital? I

don't

know." What I do know

is

his

family deserves to know what in God's name happened to their son."; (4) A guy who was

bipolar dies in a restraining chair." You don't die from bipolar disorder. They need to get a

cohesive explanation out as soon as possible. Not only does the family deserve it, the public

does. There area lot of Black males being killed

in

circumstances that

don't

make much sense."

"The fiance was calling for help, then you lose him." We

don't

know the cause of Matthew's

death." "The Georgia Bureau ofInvestigation conducted an autopsy on January 6

lh

and we

expect to get an answer as soon as possible. But even

if

we discover the cause

of

Matthew's

death, the autopsy

won't

necessarily tell us why Matthew died. Why wasn't he taken to the

hospital? Did officers take into account Matthew's mental illness? How was he allowed to die

while in officer 's care? You are not supposed to die from bipolar disorder." "In the wake of

Michael Brown and Eric Garner, there is a crisis of confidence in our criminal justice system."

"There is an opportunity now for leaders in Savannah, Georgia

to

show the nation how to

properly deal with this type of tragedy. We and the rest of the nation is watching." ; (6) "The

Chatham County Sheriffs office has made

n

important first step

in

suspending two officers who

interacted with Matthew Ajibade the night of his death, but it is only a first step. A young man

is

dead, and he shouldn 't be. The family deserves to know why as soon as possible, and we expect

the Chatham County Sheriffs office will be forthcoming, transparent, and expedient in releasing

information about this case."; (7) "Let' s say that they had the autopsy results for three weeks,

four weeks, five weeks, which I think they have. Why are they not telling us? One reason why is

because they don't want us to know. That's not acceptable. We deserve to know. Even ifits

5



bad and it may be

bad, I think

we may

find out that Matthew did not just die

o

natural causes

coincidentally

to

be

in

the jail." "They're telling

us

they are working

on it.

They first said

it

would take a few weeks for an autopsy. That's long done

by

now and we don' t know what

it

said." "Police everywhere need to

be

trained

on

how

to

handle mentally ill individuals. They

have

to.

When you take someone who's

in the

throes

o

a mental event and then incarcerate

them, you're doing the exact opposite

o

what they need. They need help. They need immediate

care."; (8) The disciplinary action against

the two

deputies are "a good small step

in

holding

people responsible for their actions." "We still need questions answered how Matthew's life

was

taken from him." " Ajibade

was

diagnosed with bipolar disorder three years ago and

was

having a medical emergency

at

the time o

his

arrest

and

confinement.".; (9) "Metro Police had

an opportunity

to

use a certain amount

o

discretion and I don't know how they decided

to

use

it.

I know that that discretion could have been-

and it is in

many cases-

to

take a person

0 the

hospital. They may have very good reasons for using their discretion- we just don't know yet." ;

(l0) O'Mara said

he

suspects Ajibade

was

having a manic episode at the jail when deputies "beat

the (expletive) out o him to get control o him." The indictment is "too little to late." "The fact

that

the

grand jury found that there

was

aggravated assault coupled with the fact that there was a

death should have

led to

a felony murder charge unless Heap wasn't really trying

to

secure that

charge." "That's been our concern

all

along that she

was

going

to

whitewash this case

as

a

benefit

to the

sheriff and in derogation to Matthew's death." "It would be nice

to

say every one

o them should have been charged with murder, but that might be unrealistic. But here's my

frustration: We have been kept so in the dark about the facts in the case that we really don't

know." ; (11) "(The district attorney) failed

to

get a felony murder indictment, and that is her

6



responsibility."

They

are disappointed that nine out of 12 people involved in their son or cousin

or brother's death have gotten

away without

any criminal liability."

(12) Op

Ed piece written by

Mark O'Mara entitled Response to Sheriff Al St. Lawrence's Press Release ; (13) It

demands

further, absolute

transparency.

First of all, they knew (the cause

of

death) back in January,

I'm

sure. This (death certificate) was signed May 8, and a month later we find out about it. I

just

don't see how

they can

be so insensitive to the

man,

and insensitive to

the family's

grief.

They

have hid this from us for five months. It makes no sense.

Also

submitted

into

evidence

was an affidavit and a flash drive

from WSA

V -TV which

contained interviews

with

family

attorney

William

Claiborne

after

the

press conference

by

Sheriff Al St.

Lawrence.

In the interview given by Mr.

Claiborne,

he makes a

number

of

statements including that Matthew Ajibade was murdered, that

apparently

for at least

two

hours

he was in a holding cell after having apparently sustained blunt force

trauma,

and apparently had

been tased while in full restraint.

Called to testify at the

hearing

were the following four

witnesses: Kristen

Fulfort, J.J.

Haire,

Dana Campbell and

Ricky Becker. Kristen Fulfort, the public information

officer

for the

District Attorney's office, testified regarding email requests from various

media

outlets for a

comment from the district attorney regarding the instant

case

. J.J. Haire, who is employed with

the victim

witness office

of the District Attorney's office, testified that

she

had been instructed by

an

employee of Mark O'Mara's office, that all

communication

to the

victim's

family, should be

directed through his office. Dana Campbell, with Sidney A. Jones and Campbell Funeral

Services, and Ricky Becker, an investigator with

the Chatham County

District Attorney's office,

testified regarding the release of the death certificate of Matthew j ibade.

7



CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

"Few, if any, interests under the Constitution are more fundamental than the right to a fair

trial by 'impartial' jurors, and an outcome affected by extrajudicial statements would violate that

fundamental right." [cit omitted]. To guarantee a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a fair

trial, the Supreme Court has placed

"an

affirmative duty on trial

court's

to guard against

prejudicial pretrial publicity." [cit omitted]. Atlanta

Journal-Constitution

et.a!. V. State, 266

Ga. App. 168, 169, 596 S.E.2d694 (2004). "There can be no question that a criminal

defendant's right to a fair trial may not be compromised by commentary, from any lawyer or

party, offered up for media consumption on the courthouse steps." [cit omitted]. United States

v

Brown, 218

F

3d 415, 424, (2000).

The U.S. Supreme Court said in Sheppard v Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 350-351,86 S.Ct.

1507,

16

L.E.2d 600 (1966):

'(l)egal trials are not like elections, to be won through the use of the meeting-hall, the

radio and the newspaper' . [cit omitted]. 'freedom of discussion should be given the

widest range compatible with the essential requirement of the fair and orderly

administration of justice. , [cit omitted]. But it must not be allowed to divert the trial from

the 'very purpose of a court system to adjudicate controversies, both criminal and

civil, in the calmness and solemnity of the courtroom according to legal procedures.'

Mr. Justice Holmes stated in Patterson v Colorado, ex reI., Attorney General, 205 U.S.

454,462,27

S.D. 556, 558,

51

L.Ed 879 (1907): "[t]he theory of our system is that the

conclusions to be reached in a case will be induced by evidence and argument in open

court, and

not

by

any outside influences, whether private talk or public print."

Georgia Bar Rule 3.6 provides

[a] lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation

of

a

matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that a person would reasonably believe to

8



be disseminated by means

of

public communication if the lawyer knows or reasonably

should know that it will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an

adjudicative proceeding in the matter.

( c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a lawyer may make a statement that a reasonable

lawyer would believe is required to protect a client from the substantial undue prejudicial

effect of recent publicity not initiated by the lawyer or the

lawyer's

client. A statement

made pursuant to this paragraph shall be limited to such information as is necessary to

mitigate the recent adverse pUblicity.

American Bar Association Disciplinary Rule DR 7-107 (A) provides:

[a] lawyer participating in or associated with the investigation of a criminal matter shall

not make or participate in making an extrajudicial statement that a reasonable person

would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication and that does more

than state without elaboration:

(1)

Information contained in a public record.

(2) That the investigation is in progress

(3) The general scope of the investigation including a description of the offense and, if

permitted by law, the identity of the victim.

(4) A request for assistance in apprehending a suspect or assistance in other matters and

the information necessary thereto.

(5) A warning to the public

of

any dangers.

In the case

of

Atlanta Journal -Constitution et.a . V. State, 266 Ga. App.

168,596

S.E.2d694 (2004) the Court found that Rule 3.6 requires a finding that extrajudicial statements to

the media will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a trial. Id. at 170.

Additionally, the trial court must make specific findings

of

fact based

on

evidence

of

record

regarding the possible impact of extrajudicial statements upon the forthcoming trial.

The District Attorney moves the Court for an order directed at

the

parties and counsel

for all agents of all parties, including the attorneys for the victims family and the Defendants to

refrain from making any statements regarding or releasing information concerning, the above-

referenced case that they know or reasonably should know will have a substantial likelihood of

materially prejudicing an adjudicat ive proceeding "

9



The Court finds that the State has failed to present any evidence regarding any

extrajudicial statements made by the Defendants or their attorneys and therefore, the request for a

gag order as to these parties is DENIED.

On the other hand, the State has presented a plethora of evidence, including but not

limited to newspaper articles and interviews, evidencing extra judicial statements made by

William Claiborne and Mark O Mara, both of whom have identified themselves as attorneys for

the Ajibade family.

With regard to attorney William Claiborne, he has made a number of

extrajudicial

statements, including but not limited to, statements regarding lack

of

information provided to the

family of Matthew Ajibade, statements regarding facts surrounding the death

of

Matthew

Ajibade, and the investigation by the District Attorney. He has given interviews to the television

stations and made comments which have been posted n various newspaper articles regarding the

instant action. Because of his filing

of

an action for mandamus against the District Attorney's

office requesting her removal with regard to her prosecution of the instant matter, the Court finds

that he has participated in the litigation of a matter. as contemplated by Georgia Rule of

Professional Conduct 3.6 (a) by inserting himself into the litigation.

Therefore, the only question which remains is whether the extrajudicial

comments

made

by Mr. Claiborne will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the trial. The

Court finds that they will. This Cour t has presided over a number of high profile cases, one

of

which required that ajury be selected from citizens outside Chatham County and is well versed

n pretrial publicity affecting the selection of a fair and impartial jury. The Court finds that the

statements made by William Claiborne, which began after the death of Matthew Ajibade on

10



January 1,2015, and has continued into June 2015, are an attempt by counsel to create sympathy

for the family

of

Matthew Ajibade. Mr. Claiborne indicated

in

his petition for mandamus that

the Ajibade family will be filing a civil suit against any and all patties responsible for the death

of

Matthew Ajibade and has indicated that there is a significant probability that Defendant Heap

will be named as a defendant in that action. The Court finds that the numerous statements made

by William Claiborne

over

the past six months will have a substantial likelihood

of

materially

prejudicing the trial because they will affect the ability to secure an unbiased jury panel and could

result

in

a change

of

venue.

The Court

is

not persuaded by the arguments

of

counsel that this Court does not have

jurisdiction to restrain him because he is not an attorney representing a party in the above

captioned proceedings. The Court has found that Mr. Claiborne has participated in the

litigation

of

this matter by insetting himself through the filing

of

a mandamus action to remove

the district attorney. He

is

clearly bound by Georgia Rule

of

Professional Conduct 3.6.

Additionally, while counsel for the victim's family has a constitutionally protected right to speak

critically of the State s handling of a case, this must be balanced with the trial court s affirmative

duty to ensure that the Defendants' receive a fair trial.

Therefore, based upon the foregoing, the

COUlt

GRANTS the

State s

request with regard

to a gag order as to attorney William Claiborne.

As to attorney Mark O Mara, who also has indicated that he is an attorney representing

the Ajibade family, the Court finds that a number of extra judicial statements have been made,

including an op ed piece that was written in response to the press release issued by Chatham

County Sheriff Al St. Lawrence. Mr.

O Mara

has not filed a motion to be admitted pro hac vice

11



pursuant to Unifonn Superior Court Rule 4.4.

3

The COUlt finds that since Mr. O'Mara has not

filed a motion

to

be admitted pro hac vice, he is not subject

to

Georgia Rule o Professional

Conduct 3.6.

He is

subject to American Bar Association Disciplinary rule DR 7 1 07(A),

however, that rule only provides for a lawyer participating in or associated with the

investigation

o

a criminal matter. The

COUlt

finds that

no

evidence has been presented

to

indicate that Mr. O'Mara has participated in the investigation o the criminal matter, only that he

has participated in the litigation, for example, by advising the victim witness advocate that his

office

is

the contact for the Ajibade family. Although

it is

concerning

to

the

COUlt

that

Mr.

O'Mara

has

made numerous extrajudicial statements regarding this matter and

has

participated

in

the litigation o this matter, the

COUlt

finds that it has

no

jurisdiction over him

in

which

to

issue

a gag order.

The Court further finds that nothing in this order is directed at the media, and therefore,

it cannot

be

classified

as

a prior restraint. See Atlanta Journal-Constitution et.al. supra at

168.

WHEREFORE, pursuant

to

Georgia Bar Rule 3.6, T

IS

HEREBY ORDERED,

ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the State's Motion for Gag Order is GRANTED as to

William Claiborne, a Georgia licensed lawyer, who is governed

by

the Georgia bar rules. Mr.

Claiborne

is

prohibited from making any statement that he should know will have a substantial

likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding

in

this matter. He

is

entitled

to

comment on those subjects

as

outlined

in

Comment 5(B) under Rule 3.6 o the Georgia Rules o

Professional Conduct. This order shall be in effect until such time as there is a resolution

is

the

JThe Court notes however that Mr. Q'Mara appeared at a hearing on June 29, 2015 before

the Honorable Michael L. Karpf in CV 15-0532 and was allowed

to

sit at counsel table with

William Claiborne

to

assist.

12



above styled cases

SO ORDERED this

cc: ll parties

fl day

o t L r -

13



,

IN THE

SUPERIOR

COURT OF CH TH M COUNTY

1/ :' D}t

ST TE OF GEORGI

l St. Lawrence, Sheriffof Chatham )

County, Georgia, and Meg Heap, District )

Attorney, )

Plaintiffs, )

v. ) Civil Action No. CV15-0441-KA

WSA V, Inc., Adenike Hannah )

Ajibade and Solomon Aludamisi Ajibade, )

Defendants. )

ORDER

This action for declaratory judgment was filed by the sheriff and district attorney of

Chatham County. Plaintiffs seek a declaration from the court protecting them from the obligation

to release certain records sought by defendant WSA V arising from the death

of

an inmate at the

. Chatham County Detention Center. Subsequent to the filing of this action the surviving family of

the inmate, Mathew Ajibade, sought to intervene as defendants. The intervention was without

objection and was granted.

Following the death

of

Mr. Ajibade, the

sheriffs

office launched an internal investigation

into the circumstances and also called in the GBI. As a result of the

sheriff

s investigation, a

number of deputies and employees were either fired, resigned or retired. The sheriff turned over

his internal investigation to the GBI, and the GBI ultimately delivered its report and the

accompanying evidence

to

the district attorney. Subsequently, the grand

jury

returned

indictments against two deputies and a health care employee who worked at the jail.

The Open Records request filed

by

WSA V seeks the records from the

sheriffs

internal

affairs investigation of the incident. The sheriff and district attorney oppose release

of

this

material, relying on the pending prosecution exemption contained in OCGA § 50-18-72 (a)( 4).

WSAV, for its part, contends that the internal affairs investigation has concluded, and therefore



pursuant to 50-18-72 (a)(8) should be released. As well, WSAV argues that the pending

prosecution exemption does not apply to the sheriff because the

sheriffs

office is an agency that

is the subject

of

the pending investigation or prosecution."

OCGA

§ 50-18-72 (a)(4).1

Upon careful consideration

of

the arguments and the controlling principles of law, the

court concludes that these records are not subject to release as requested. Although the court

acknowledges the points made by WSAV, the fact remains that an active prosecution of

individuals involved in the unfortunate death ofMr. Ajibade is pending. The court finds it

impossible to parse out the sheriffs internal investigation from the prosecution, such that one

portion of the record should be released while the remainder is not.

t

is also difficult to reconcile

why the investigation by the sheriff should be released, while the same information in the hands

of the DA is protected by the exception in subsection (a)(4). As noted in earlier decisions,

subsection (a)(4) "broadly exempts from disclosure the entirety

of

such records to the extent they

are part of a 'pending investigation or prosecution' .. " Unified Government Athens-Clarke

County v Athens Newspaper LLC 284 Ga. 192 (2008), citing Atlanta Journal Constitution v

City Brunswick 265 Ga. 413, 414 (1995). Ifthe same records being used by the district

attorney to prosecute the pending indictments can simply be obtained from the sheriff, the

legitimate purpose

of

the exception would be frustrated, i.e., the protection of a pending

prosecution.

The court is aware that there is wide spread public interest in this case. The court also

recognizes the obligation of

WSA

V and the other news organizations to report on matters

of

public interest, as well as the public's right of access to records of the institutions of government.

n

the present case, however, the question is not whether the information will be disclosed, but

when. The court notes that at least one of the indicted defendants has filed a demand for speedy

trial which will accelerate the trial process. The public's right to know will be satisfied during the

trial, which will be sooner rather than later. Any release

of

the information sought at this juncture

lUnder this subsection, if the agency is the subject of the investigation, then the pending

investigation or prosecution exemption does not apply. Here, the sheriffs office i tself was not

being investigated, rather individuals who worked for the sher iff were under investigation for

their role in the death.

2



/

wouldfly inthefaceof thepurposeof thelegislativelyenactedexemption.

Thecourtalsonotesthatrelease

of

thismaterial,especiallythevideofromjail

surveillancecameraswould likelybebroadcastanddisseminatedwidelyinthisjurisdiction,as

wellasinotherpartsof thestate.Thecourtexpectsthatthiswidespreadreleasewouldhavea

significantimpactonjuryselection,makingitdifficulttoobtainafairandimpartialjury forthe

upcomingtrial.

Accordingly,thecourtdeclaresthatplaintiffsarenotrequiredtodisclosethematerial

soughtbydefendantspursuanttotheOpenRecordsact.

2

SO OR ERE thisJ Q dayof July,2015.

MichaelL Karpf,Chief Judg SuperiorCourt

EasternJudicialCircuitof Georgia

cc: Sarah

R

Craig,Esq.

DavidE.Hudson,Esq.

R

JonathanHart,Esq.

Jennifer

R

Burns,Esq.

WilliamR.Claiborne,Esq.

BatesLovett,Esq.

PatrickT.O Connor, Esq.

2In light

of

theforegoing,thecourtfindsitunnecessarytoaddresstheclaimsof the

interveningdefendants.

3





OFFICE

OF

THE SHERIFF

CHATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

h-ill

Al

St laweme

Chief Detuq

Roy

J.

Harris

Enforcenent

Opetatbrs

Admiistratm

Colonel Brian

M.

Counihan,

Sr.

Assistant

Enforcenenr Adminisnat,r

Major

Russell

A.

Smith

Enforcement

Bureau -

PO. Box

10026

- Savannah,

CA 31412

Jail

-

1050

Carl

cd{fin

Drive, GA

31405

Jail

Adminirtrdtot

CoioEi

Thonas

M.

Gilb€,g

As

sisant

I

ail

Admintsmar

Melissa

S.

Kohne

lail

Opentiats

Major

Kimberly

c.

Middleron

Iail

SecuitL

Major

Cloria G. Wilson

May

8,

2015

Corporal

Jason

Kenny

Chatham

County

Sheriffs

Office

Corporal

Kenny:

Effective

today,

you

are

terminated

from

your

employment

with

the

chatham

County sheriffs

Office.

As

you

are

aware,

your

actions

on January

1, 2015

that resulted

in

the

death of

an

inmate

are

under

investigation

by

the

District

Attorney

and

the

Georgia

Bureau

of

Investigation.

|

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment irrespective

of the

outcome of

any

criminal investigation.

In

addition

to termination,

please

note

that

the

Sheriff

will

report

this

mater

to

the

Georgia

Peace

Officers

Standard and

Training

(POST)

Council.

You

are

directed

to turn

in

your

badge,

keys,

and all

other

County

issued

property

and

equipment,

remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and

exit

the

premises.

your

finar

paycheck

will

be mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address

on

file.

you

can

expect

a

separate

package

from Human

Resources

regarding

any

pension

information

and

eligibility for

consolidated

omnibus

Budget Reconciliation

Act

(coBRA)

continuation

of

group

health

coverage.

You

have

7 days

from

the

receipt

of this letter

to

appeal

Should

you

have

questions,

you

may contact

either

the

the

County

Attorney's

Office.

my decision

to

Sheriff

Al St Lawrence.

Human

Resources

Director,

Carolyn

Smalls,

or

Sincerely.

5'd-/s

Telephone

(912)

652-7634

.

Fzx

l9lZl

652.7

660

Glephone

(912)

652-7650

.

Fax

(912)

652.7660

Colonel Brian

M.

Counihan,

Sr.



OFFICE

OF

THE

SHERIFF

CHATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

r.""ift

AI Sr

faurena

Cl|.ief

Detuq

Roy

J.

Harris

Enforcemnt

Operatiors

Adninis*ator

Colonel Brian

M.

Counihan,

Sr.

Assista^t

E^forceme

t

Ahnir.isnatai

Major

Russell

A.

Smirh

Enfotcement

Bureau -

PO. Box 10026

,

Savannah.

cA 31412

Jail

-

1050

Carl

Griffin

Drive, GA

31405

Corporal Maxine

Evans

Chatham

County

Sheriffs Office

Corporal

Evans:

Effective

today,

you

are

terminated from

your

employment with

the

Chatham

County

Sheriffs

Office.

As

you

are

aware,

your

actions

on

January

1, 2015

that

resulted in

the death

of an

inmate

are

under

investigation

by

the

District

Attorney

and

the

Georgia Bureau

of Investigation.

I

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment irrespective

of the outcome

of

anv

criminal investigation.

In addition

to termination,

please

note

that the

Sheriff

will reoort this

matter

to

Georgia

Peace

Officers

Standard

and

Training

(POST)

Council.

This

is

to

inform

you

that

your

employment

with the chatham

county

sheriffs Department

is

terminated

effective

immediately.

The results

of

an

Internal

Affairs

investigation

regarding

the

events

that

led

to the

death

ofan

inmate

on

January

t,2ols,

which

included

a

review

ofyour

conduct,

has led

to the

conclusion

that

your

termination

is warranted.

You

are

directed

to turn

in

your

badge,

keys,

and all

other

County issued

property

and

equipment,

remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and

exit

the

premises.

your

final

paycheck

will

be mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address on file.

you

can

expect a separate

package

from

Human Resources

regarding

any

pension

information

and

eligibility

for

Consolidated

Omnibus


Act

(COBRA)

continuation

of

group

health

coverage.

You

have 7

days from

the

receipt

of

this letter

to

appeal my decision

to

Sheriff Al

St

Lawrence.

Should

you

have

questions

other than the

request

to

appeal

your

termination,

you

can

contact

either

Human

Resources

Director,

Carolyn

Smalls,

or

the

County

Attorney's

Office.

la.il

Adninisttdtor

Cololel Thoma M.

Ciiberg

Assisttlnt

I

ail Admiîstrator

Mel

sa S. Kohne

Jail

Opetutiors

Major

Kimberly G.

Middleron

luil

Secuntl

Major

Cloria G.

Wihon

Telephone

(912)

652-7634

-

Fax

(9lz)

652.7660

Telephone

(912)

652.7650

-Fzx

(9rZ)

652-7660

Sincerely,



OFFICE

OF

THE SHERIFF

CHATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

h.ill

Ai

Sc laueff€

Ckef Deputl

Roy

J.

Harris

Enlorccmert

Opetatbns Adminktraror

Colonel

Brian

M.

Counihan,

Sr.

Assistant

Erforcement Adminbtratcn

Major

RussellA.

Smith

Enforcement

Bureau

.

PO. Box 10026 -

Savannah,

GA ll4l2

Jail

-

1050

Carl Griffin

Drive,

GA

31405

May 8, 2015

Private Eric Vinson

Chatham County

Sheriffs Office

Private

Vinson:

Effective

today,

you

are terminated from

your

employment with

the Chatham

County

Sheriffs Office. I

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment.

The totality

of

the

circumstances

of

your

employment, to include

but not limited

to

your

actions and

inactions ofJanuary

l, 2015

that

resulted

in the

death of an inmate, merit

your

dismissal.

The

District

Attorney

is

currently reviewing

that

internal investigation

as

well

as

the

investigation conducted

by

the

Georgia

Bureau

of Investigation.

lrrespective

of whether or not

any

action is taken

by

the

District Attorney,

I

conclude

your

termination

is warranted.

You are

directed to turn in

your

badge, keys,

and all other

County issued

property

and

equipment, remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and exit the

premises.

Your

final

paycheck

will

be mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address on file.

You can expect

a

separate

package

from Human

Resources regarding

any

pension

information

and

eligibility for

Consolidated

Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation

Act

(COBRA)

continuation of

group

health

coverage.

You have

7 days

from

the

receipt of

this letter

to

appeal

my

decision

to

Sheriff

Al

St

Lawrence.

Should

you

have

question

other

than a request

to

appeal

your

termination,

you

can contact

either

the

Human

Resources Director,

Carolyn Smalls,

or the County Attorney's

Office.

lail

Adniîsnabr

Colorel Thom

M.

Gilberg

Assiltant

I

ail

Ahninbtratjr

Melissa

S. Kohne

lail

ODerutbr"

Major

Kimbeny

G Middleton

Iail

Sednq

Major

Gloria G. Wilson

Terephone

(912)

652-7634

.

Fax

(9r2)

652.7660

Telephone

(912)

652-?650.

Fax

(912)

652'?660



OFFICE OF

THE SHERIFF

CHATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

hm//

Al

St lauren..

CIi.l

DetutJ

Roy

J.

Hanis

Enforcefienr

OpentiorLt

Adminkl:,atot

Colonel Brian

M. Counihan,

Sr.

A.ssistant

Enlorcanett

Adninisttaar

Major

Russell

A.

Smith

Enforcement

Bureau

,

PO. Box 10026

-

Savannah,

GA 31412

JaiI .

1050

Carl

Griffin

Drive,

cA

31405

May

8,

2015

Private

Abram

Burns

Chatham

County

Sheriffs

Office

Private

Burns:

Effective

today,

you

are terminated from

your

employment with

the chatham

County sheriffs

Office. I

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment.

The totality

of the

circumstances

of

your

employment,

to

include

but not

limited to

your

actions and

inactions

ofJanuarv

1,

2015

that

resulted

in

the

death

of

an

inmate,

merit

your

dismissal.

The District

Attorney

is

currently

reviewing

that internal investigation

as

well

as

the

investigation

conducted

by

the

Georgia

Bureau

of Investigation.

lrrespective of

whether or

not

any

action

is

taken by

the District

Attorney,

I

conclude

your

termination

is

warranted.

You are

directed

to turn

in

your

badge, keys,

and all other

County issued

property

and

equipment,

remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and exit

the

premises.

your

finat

paycheck

will be

mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address

on

file.

you

can

expect a separate

package

from

Human Resources

regarding

any

penslon

information

and

eligibility

for

Consolidated

Omnibus


Act

(COBRA)

continuation

of

group

health

coverage.

You have

7 days from

the receipt

ofthis

letterto

appeal my decision

to SheriffAl

St

Lawrence.

Should

you

have

question

other than a

request

to appeal

your

termination,

you

can contact

either

the

Human

Resources

Director,

Carolyn

Smalls,

or

the

County

Attorney's

Olfice.

Colonel

Brian M.

Counihan.

Sr.

.-ga--7'/{

lo.il

Adminknatur

ColoEl Thotus

M.

cilbds

I. sL\un

r

I

ail

Adminis|.Jatot

Melissa S. Kohoe

lail

OpefltiLms

Major

Kimberly

G.

Middleton

Jdil

Secrnry

Major Gloria C. Wilson

Telephone

(912)

652-7634

'Fax

l9r2)

652-7660

Telephone

(912)

652-76 50

-

Eax

\9121

652.7

660



OFFICE

OF

THE

SHERIFF

CHATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

h.r,/l

Ai

St

laserce

Chief Deputy

Roy

J.

Hanis

Enforcenent Operariors AdrninLstratar

Coloncl Brian

M. Counihan,

Sr.

Assiswlt

E^[orcement

Administratot

Major

Russell

A.

Smith

Enforcement

Bureau

-

PO. Box 10026

-

Savanruh.

GA

31412

Jail

-

1050

Carl Grifffn Drive, GA

31405

May

8,

2015

Private

Christooher Reed

Chatham County

Sheriffs Office

Private

Reed:

Effective

today,

you

are

terminated

from

your

employment with the chatham county

Sheriffs Office. I

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment.

The

tota lity

of

the

circumsta

nces

of

your

employment,

to include

but

not limited

to

your

actions

and

inactions

ofJanuary 1,

2015

that

resulted

in the

death

of an

inmate,

merit

your

dismissal,

The

District

Attorney

is

currently reviewing

that internal

investigation

as well as the


by the

Georgia Bureau

of Investigation.

lrrespective

of whether or not

any

action

is

taken by the District

Attorney, I

conclude

your

termination is warranted.

You

are directed

to turn

in

your

badge,

keys, and all other

County

issued

property

and

equipment,

remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may

have,

and exit

the

premises.

Your

final

paycheck

will

be mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address on

file.

You

can expect a separate

package

from

Human

Resources regarding

any

pension

information

and

eligibility for

Consolidated

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation

Act

(COBRA)

continuation

of

group

health

coverage.

You have 7

days

from

the receipt

of this

letter

to

appeal my decision

to

Sheriff

Al

St Lawrence.

Should

you

have

question

other than a

request

to

appeal

your

termination,

you

can

contact

either

the

Human

Resources Director,

Carolyn

Smalls,

or

the

County

Attorney's

Office.

Colonel Brian

M.

Counihan.

Sr.

J7-a'

lail

Ad'f'iniliabt

Coloael T[ornas M. Gil]og

Asststa^t

lail

Administrator

Melissa

S.

Kohnc

lail

OperutiorLs

Major

Kimberly G.

Middleron

Jdil

Secrn )

Major Cloria

G.

t0ilson

Terephone

(912)

652.7634. Fax

\9t2),

652.7

660

Grephone

(912)

652.7650

.

Fax

\9121

652-7660

/J



OFFICE

OF THE SHERIFF

CHATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

l€rif/

Al

Sr

lautence

Chief

Depur)

Roy

J.

Hanis

Enforcenart

Wario

s Administraror

Colonel Brian

M.

Counihan,

Sr.

^sistant

Enfarceme

r Adrniflit]'lator

Majot

Russell

A.

Smith

Enfotcement

Bureau

-

PO. Box 10026

-

Sarannah,

GA

3l4r2

Jail

-

t050 Carl

Griftin

Ddve, GA

31405

May

8,

2015

Private Burt

Ambrose

Chatham

County

Sheriffs

Office

Private

Ambrose:

Effective

today,

you

are

terminated from

your

employment

with

the

Chatham County

Sheriffs

Office.

I

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment.

The

totality ofthe

circumstances

of

your

employment,

to include

but

not

limited

to

your

actions

and inactions

ofJanuary 1,

2015

that

resulted

in

the

death

of

an

inmate,

merit

your

dismissal.

The District

Attorney

is currently

reviewing

that internal

investigation

as

well

as

the


by

the

Georgia

Bureau

of Investigation.

lrrespective

of whether or

not

any

action

is

taken

by

the District

Attorney,

I conclude

your

termination

is warranted.

You

are

directed

to turn in

your

badge, keys,

and

all

other

County

issued

property

and

equipment,

remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and exit the

premises.

your

final

paycheck

will

be mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address on

file.

you

can

expect

a separate

package

from

Human Resources

regarding

any

pension

information

and

eligibility

for

Consolidated

Omnibus


Act

(COBRA)

continuation

of

group

health

coverage.

You haveTdaysfrom

the receipt

ofthis

letter

to

appeal my decision

to

Sheriff

AlSt

Lawrence.

Should

you

have

question

other than

a

request

to

appeal

your

termination,

you

can

contact either

the

Human

Resources

Director,

Carolyn

Smalls,

or

the

County

Attorney,s

Office.

JcLiI

Administratar

Colonel

Thoms

M. Gilkrg

Assi,ra

t

|ail

1lmiîsna@r

Melissa

S. Kohne

lail

Operatiav

Major

Kimberly

G.

Middleton

lail

Secwitl

Major

Gloria G. Wilson

Telephone

(912)

652-7634

.

Fax

l9l2l

652-766o

"felephone

(912)

652.7650

.

Fax

(9121

652.7660

Colonef Brian

M. Counihan,

Sr.

{_

f,-

,z-S-



OFFICE

OF

THE SHERIFF

CHAIHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

l'..if

AlStl,avmce

Chiel

Depuq

Roy

J.

Harris

Enforcenmt

Ope'anf'x

Admink/laror

Colonel

Brian

M.

C,ounihan,

Sr.

Assiuant

Enfofte''.{' t

AdminisnatI.t

Major

Russell

A.

Smith

Enforcement

Bureau

.

PO. Box

10026

-

Savannah.

GA

31412

Jail.

1050

Carl

Grifftn

Drive,

GA

31405

May

8,

2015

Private Frederick Burke

Chatham

County

Sheriffs

Office

Private

Burke:

Effective

today,

you

are

terminated from

your

employment

with the

Chatham

county

Sheriffs

Office. I

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment.

The

tota lity

of

the

circumsta nces of

your

employment,

to

include but not limited

to

your

actions and inactions

ofJanuary 1,

2015

that

resulted in

the

death

of an

inmate,

merit

your

dismissal.

The

District

Attorney is

currently

reviewing

that


as

well

as the

investigation

conducted

by

the

Georgia

Bureau

of Investigation.

lrrespective

of whether or not

any

action

is taken

by

the District

Attorney,

I

conclude

your

termination

is

warranted.

You

are

directed

to turn

in

your

badge,

keys, and

all

other

County

issued

property

and

equipment,

remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and exit

the

premises.

your

final

paycheck

will

be mailed

to

you

at

your

home address

on file.

you

can expect

a separate

package

from Human

Resources

regarding

any

pension

information

and

eligibility for

Consolidated

Omnibus


Act

(COBRA)

continuation

of

group

health

coverage.

You

have

7

days

from

the

receipt

of this letter

to

appeal

my decision

to

Sheriff

Al

St

Lawrence.

Should

you

have

question

other

than

a request

to

appeal

your

termination,

you

can

contact

either the

Human

Resources

Director,

Carolyn

Smalls,

or

the

County

Attorney's

Office.

Colonel Brian

M.

Counihan,

Sr.

"-17-

6-

lail

Administtatot

Colotul fiornas M. cilbds

Assistr;nt

I

ail

AdminLt:,ator

Melissa

S.

Kobne

lail

Opentins

Major

Kinberly

C.

Middleton

lail

SecuitJ

Major Glorie G.

Vihon

Glephone

(912)

652.7634

-

Fax

1912)

652-7660

Telephone

(912)

652-7650

-Eax

(9t2)

652,7660



OFFICE

OF

THE SHERIFF

CTIATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

hfJifl

Ai

Sr

la@ence

Chizf Dqtr

Roy

J.

Harris

Enforcement

O4ations

Adminktrarot

Colonel Brian M.

Counihan,

Sr.

Assistant

Enforcenmt Administtatot

Major

Russell

A.

Smith

Enfotcement Bureau

-

PO. Box 10026

-

Savannah,

GA 31412

Jail

.

1050

Carl

Griffin

Drive, GA

31405

May

8,

2015

Private

Andrew Evans-Martinez

Chatham

County Sheriffs

Office

Private

Evans-Martinez:

Effective

today,

you

are terminated from

your

employment

with the chatham

County Sheriffs office.

I

find sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment. The

totality of

the circumstances of

your

employment,

to include but

not limited

to

your


ofJanuary 1, 2015

that

resulted in

the death

of an

inmate,

merit

your

dismissal.

The

District Attorney

is currently

reviewing

that internal investigation

as well

as

the

investiSation

conducted

by

the

Georgia

Bureau

of Investigation.

lrrespective

ofwhether

or not

any action is

taken by

the

District

Attorney,

I

conclude

your

termination is

warranted.

You

are directed

to

turn

in

your

badge,

keys, and

all other County issued

property

and

equipment, remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and exit

the

premises.

your

final

paycheck

will

be mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address on file. You

can expect

a separate

package

from

Human

Resources regarding

any

pension

information

and eligibility

for

Consolidated

Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation

Act

(COBRA)

continuation of

group

health

coverage.

You

have 7 days

from

the

receipt of this letter to

appeal my decision

to

Sheriff

Al

St

Lawrence.

Should

you

have

question

other than a request

to appeal

your

termination,

you

can contact

either the

Human

Resources Director,

Carolyn Smalls,

or

the

County

Attorney's

Office.

JdilAdminiJt'aror

Colonel

TtDmai

M.

Gibers

Assisrant

I

atl AdrniflittJ atar

Melissa

S.

Kohne

ld'il

Opetutiot:'s

Major Kimberly

C.

Middleton

Jdil

Seclrit)

Major

Cloria G. Mlson

Telephone

(9r2)

652.?634

.

Fax

(912)

652.7660

Telephone

(912)

652-?650

.

Fax

l9r2l

652.7660

Colonel

Brian M. Counihan.

Sr.



OFFICE

OF

THE SHERIFF

CHATHAM

COUNTY,

GEORGIA

iailt

AIS

lrwence

Chief

De\ut)

Roy

J.

Harris

Enfarcement

apcrations

k)ministr attr

Colonel

Brian

M.

Counihan,

Sr.

Assistant Enforc cment

N)ninktrator

Major

Ru$scll

A.

Snlidr

tsnforcement

Bureau

-

PO. Box

10026,

Savannah,

GA 31412

Jail-

1050

CarlGrifffn

Drive,

GA

11405

May 8, 201s

Private Paul

Folsome

Chatham

County Sheriffs

Office

Private

Folsome:

Effective

today,

you

are

terminated from

your

employment

with

the Chatham

County Sheriff's

Office. I

find

sufficient

policy

violations

to terminate

your

employment.

The

totality

of

the circumstances

of

your

employment,

to

include

but not limited

to

your


ofJanuarV 1, 2015

that

resulted

in

the death of

an inmate, merit

vour

dismissal.

The District Attorney

is

currently reviewing

that


as

well as the

investiSation

conducted

by

the Georgia Bureau

of Investigation.

lrrespective

ofwhetheror

not

any action is

taken by

the

District

Attorney, I

conclude

your

termination is

warranted.

You

are directed

to

turn in

your

badge,

keys, and

all

other

County

issued

property

and

equipment,

remove

any

personal

belongings

you

may have,

and exit

the

premises.

your

final

paycheck

will be

mailed

to

you

at

your

home

address

on

file.

you

can expect a separate

package

from

Human Resources

regarding

any

pension

information

and

eligibility

for

Consolidated

Omnibus


Act

(COBRA)

continuation

of

group

health

coverage.

You have

7 days from

the receipt of

this letter

to appeal my decision

to Sheriff Al

St

Lawrence.

Shouldyou

have

question

otherthana

requesttoappeal

your

termination,

you

can

contact

either

the

Human Resources

Director,

Carolyn

Smalls, or

the

County Attorney's

Office.

Colonel

Brian M. Counihan,

Sr.

-f-f't{

Telephone

(912)

652-?634

'

Fax

\912)

652.766A

Telephone

(912)

652-7650

-

lax

(912)

652-7660

Ja l

AJnin

nIr. or

colonel

Thomar v.

G,lbeiq

Asrstant

Jrrii

Adminlstrator

Mcl sr

S.

Kohnc

lail

Opentiotls

Major

KnnbcLly

G.

Middleton

JarlSecanrl

Maj.r

Glffir

c.

\qikon



Gena Bilbo - Public Information Director

Chatham County Sheriff's Office

Office: 912.652.7606 | Cell: 912.660.9571 | [email protected]

MEDIA ADVISORY

May8, 2015

For Immediate Release

Sheriff St Lawrence Makes Statement

Sheriff Al St Lawrence has taken numerous steps within his department as a result of the death of

Matthew Ajibade. As he said in his statement of Wednesday, the Sheriff deeply regrets the death of Mr.

Ajibade.

On January 2, 2015, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) began its external review of the conductof those individuals within the Sheriff’s Office present at the facility during the incident on January 1,

2015. In a parallel investigation, the Internal Affairs Division of the Sheriff’s Office began a review, not

only of the personnel involved, but of the policies of the Department. Upon receipt of the GBI’s

completed investigation, approximately two weeks ago, the Sheriff instructed Internal Affairs to again

review the actions of the deputies involved as well as the policies of the Department with the evidence

obtained by the GBI. In accordance with those investigations, today the Sheriff has taken the following

steps:

Nine (9) deputies have been terminated from employment today:

Cpl. Maxine Evans

Cpl. Jason Kenny

Pvt. Eric Vinson

Pvt. Abram Burns

Pvt. Christopher Reed

Pvt. Burt Ambrose

Pvt. Paul Folsome

Pvt. Frederick Burke

Pvt. Andrew Evans-Martinez

Greg Capers, Benjamin Webster and Lt. Debra Johnson are no longer employed with the Sheriff Office.

Capers and Webster were terminated for policy violations not related to this incident and Lt. Johnson

has retired.



Gena Bilbo - Public Information Director

Chatham County Sheriff's Office

Office: 912.652.7606 | Cell: 912.660.9571 | [email protected]

Simultaneously with the release of this statement, the Sheriff is releasing the personnel files and

termination letters of the first nine individuals named above. As both the Internal Affairs and GBI

reports are currently in the hands of the District Attorney for her independent review to take action asshe deems appropriate, the Sheriff is not releasing those reports.

The Sheriff instructed the County Attorney to initiate legal proceedings last Monday in Chatham County

Superior Court to determine if the Internal Affairs files are subject to release during the ongoing criminal

investigation. The Sheriff will abide by the decision rendered by Superior Court. Until such time as the

Court rules or such time as the District Attorney concludes the ongoing criminal investigation, the Sheriff

will not release any additional information.

Also, as announced on Wednesday, the Sheriff has instituted policy changes as a result of these parallel

investigations. Those changes include:

• New booking procedures to ensure immediate notification to onsite medical

personnel when a person with medication arrives for the booking process.

• New security procedures with the jail to audit the use of Taser devices and reconcile

such use with standard documentation and current Use of Force policies.

• The Cell Extraction and Removal Team (CERT) will be reviewed and have a renewed

focus of discipline and use of non-lethal force.

• A clear written policy of when Tasers may not be used.

All questions regarding any potential criminal prosecution should be directed to the District Attorney





GeneralCivilCaseFilingInformationForm (Non-Domestic)

Court

CountyCHATHAM DateFiled

td.

i OtS

MM-DD-YYYY

Q'

Superior

Docket#

;V15 / O ~ 1 Q . KA

State

PlaintitT(s) Defendant(s)

AJIBADE

ADEN

IKE

H.

Last First

Middle I.

AJIBADE

SOLOMON O.

Last

First

Middle

I

OLADAPO CHRISTOPHER

Last First

Middk1

Suffix Prefix

Sutlix Prefix

Suffix Pft:fix

Maiden

Maiden

Maidt:n

HEAP,MEG

Last

First MiddleI. SUftlX Prdix Maiden

IN

HER

CAPACITYAS EASTERNJUDICIALCIRCUIT

Last First Middle I. Suftix Prefix Maiden

DISTRICTATTORNEY

Last First Middk

1

Suffix Prefix Maiden

Last

First

Middle1 Suffix Prefix Maiden

Last

First

MiddleI. Suffix Prefix Maiden

No. of

Plaintiffs

3

No.

of

Defendants

PlaintifflPetitioner'sAttorney

o Pro

Se

CLAIBORNE WILLIAM R

Last

First Middle [

sumx

Bar #

126363

CheckPrimaryType(CheckonlyONE)

o

Contract/Account

o

Wills/Estate

o

RealProperty

o Dispossessory/Distress

o PresonalProperty

'0 Equity

o Habeas Corpus

o Appeals,Reviews

o

PostJudgementGarnishment, Attachment, or

Other ReI

ief

o Non-DomesticContempt

o Tort

(If tort,fill

in

rightcolumn)

II Other GeneralCivil SpecifYDisqualification

pursuant to

O.C.GA

15-18-5

Tort

is

CaseType:

(ChecknomorethanTWO)

0

Auto Accident

0

Premises Liability

0

MedicalMalpractice

0 Other Professional Negligence

0

Product

Liability

0

Other

SpecifY

Are Punitive Damages Pleaded?

0 Yes 0

No

herebycertify that thedocuments inthisfiling

(including attachments and exhibits)satisfythe

requirements

for

redaction of

personal

or

confidential

information

inO .e.G.A. 9-11-7.1

ENTERED JPK

JUN - 9

2 15



IN

THE

SUPERIORCOURTOFCHATHAMCOUNTY

STATEOFGEORGIA

ADEN IKEHANNAHAJIBADE,

SOLOMONOLUDAMISIAJIBADE,and

CHRISTOPHEROLADAPO,

Plaintiffs, ) CivilActionNo.: CVlS- b It -J3

v.

'-=>

c::;

MEGHEAPINHER CAPACITYAS

c n

pg

EASTERNJUDICIALCIRCUIT

B

ISTRICTATTORNEY;

I

.:s

efendant.

:z

::::0

.

....

a:>

:-;;

N

§5

N c::::5

PETITION

FOR

MANDAMUSANDDISQUALIFICATION

COMENOWPLAINTIFFS,AdenikeHannahAjibade,SolomonOludamisiAjibade,and

.ChristopherOladapo,andfilethisPetitionforMandamusandDisqualificationagainstDefendant

MegHeap("Heap")inhercapacityasChathamCountyDistrictAttorney,showingtheCourtas

follows:

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffsfile thisPetitionpursuanttoO.C.G.A§15-18-5 seekingthe disqualificat ion

of DefendantHeap and the officeof the EasternJudicial CircuitDistrict Attorneyfrom

anyfurtheractionininvestigating orpresenting criminalcharges basedupon theactions

whichcausedthedeath of Mathew Ajibadeandforthe appointment of DistrictAttorney

pr

t mpor

inall

matters

relatedto thedeath

of

Mathew Ajibade.

Page1of 12

Ajibade,etal. v.MegHeap

SuperiorCourtof ChathamCounty

ENTERE JPK JUN - 92 15



JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1.

This is an action brought pursuant to

O CG A §

15-18-5. This Court has jurisdiction to

entertain the Plaintiffs action.

2.

For purposes of venue, all Defendant Heap is a resident of Chatham County, Georgia and

Chatham County, Georgia is the county in which a substantial part of the business described

below was transacted.

O CG A

§9-10-93; Ga. Const. Art. VI, § 2, VI. Venue is proper in this

Court.

PARTIES

3.

Plaintiffs are the immediate surviving family members of Mathew Ajibade, an arrestee

who was killed while in the custody of Chatham County Sheri ff deputies in early 2015.

4.

Defendant Meg Heap is the District Attorney for the Eastern Judicial Circuit and is

subject to suit in actions

of

this kind and nature. Defendant Heap may be served through her

office at:

133

Montgomery St., 6

th

Floor, Savannah, Georgia.

COUNT I

DISQUALIFICATION OF DEFENDANT HEAP

AND THE OFFICE OF THE EASTERN CIRCUIT DISTRICT ATTORNEY

5.

Plaintiffs repeat and re-allege paragraphs 1-4 as though fully set forth herein.

Page 2

of

12

Ajibade, et al. v. Meg Heap

Superior Court of Chatham County



6.

Pursuant to

O e G A

§ 15-18-5(a), a District Attorney is disqualified from a case when

he or she has an interest in the outcome

of the case or a relationship with either the victim or the

accused.

DEFENDANT HEAP'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE

ACCUSED SHERIFF IN SPCV1S-0441-J3

7.

On May 4, 2015, Defendant Heap and Sheriff Al St. Lawrence sued WSAV, Inc. in the

Superior Court of Chatham County. Said suit, SPCVI5-0441-J3, seeks a declaratory judgment

that neither Defendant Heap nor Sheriff St. Lawrence be required to release information to

WSAV, Inc. under the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A § 50-18-70 et seq.

8.

WSAV, Inc. did not request any records from Defendant Heap. However, Defendant

Heap voluntarily inserted herself into the controversy between WSA V and Sheriff St. Lawrence.

9.

Defendant Heap and Sheriff St. Lawrence are co-plaintiffs in SPCV 15-0441-J3 and even

share the same attorney in said suit.

10.

The Plaintiffs in this action have intervened in SPCV 15-0441-J3 and are Defendants in

said case.

Page 3 of 12





11.

The Ajibade family has claims against Defendant Heap and Sheriff St. Lawrence which

have been asserted in SPCVI5-0441-J3.

12.

Thus, Defendant Heap is embroiled in contested litigation against the Ajibade family , the

surviving family of the victim in the criminal case.

13.

Sheriff St. Lawrence, is a potential defendant in the criminal case, and his actions and/or

inactions should be under investigation by Defendant Heap.

a.

t has been widely reported that

195

inmates were tased in the Chatham County Jail in

2014, a rate far higher than were tased, for example, by the Savannah-Chatham

Metropolitan Police Department or were tased at the at the Richmond County Jail.

Failure to institute proper policies for the use of tasers should subject the Sheriff to

criminal charges.

b. Video has been released showing several of the CCSO officers who participated in

the killing of Mathew Ajibade engaging in violence and excessive force against other

inmates both before and after Mathew Ajibade's death. Creating a culture of violence

and sadism should subject the Sheriff to criminal charges.

c. Instituting a policy of allowing restrained inmates to be tased should subject the

Sheriff to criminal charges.

d. t has been reported that the Watch Commander' s Log Book was altered

approximately fifteen to twenty-one hours after Mathew Ajibade was killed .

f

the

Page 4 of 12





Sheriff allowed or encouraged the alterations of that log book to conceal the manner

in which Mathew Ajibade died, then the Sheriff should be subjected to criminal

charges.

14.

Both Defendant Heap and Sheriff St. Lawrence are seeking a court order debarring the

Ajibade family and the public from records which would reveal the circumstances of Mathew

Ajibade's death.

15.

By voluntarily inserting herself into SPCV15-0441-J3 on the side

of

a potential criminal

defendant and sharing a lawyer with that defendant, Defendant Heap has placed herself in

opposition to the victim's family.

16.

This alliance with a potential criminal defendant in opposition to the victim's family has

placed Defendant Heap in an impermissibly conflicted position, and she must be disqualified

from any further action in

investigating or presenting

criminal

charges

based

upon

the

actions which

caused

the

death of athew

Ajibade.

DEFENDANT HEAP'S POLITICAL ALLIANCE

WITH THE ACCUSED SHERIFF

17.

Sheriff St. Lawrence contributed to the election campaign

of

Defendant Heap twice in

2012.

Page 5 of

12

Ajibade, et al.

v.

Meg Heap




18.

Defendant Heap and Sheriff St. Lawrence both employed David Simons as their political

consultant and campaigned in concert with one another in 2012.

DEFENDANT HEAP S REFUSAL TO INVESTIGATE

OR

PROSECUTE

H R

POLITICAL ALLIES AND/OR SUPPORTERS

19.

Since becoming District Attorney, Defendant Heap has failed or refused to investigate or

prosecute individuals or entities that are also represented by her political consultant, David

Simons. Further, Defendant Heap has failed or refused to investigate or prosecute individuals or

entities that contributed to her election 2012 campaign.

20.

Defendant Heap received a campaign contribution from Walter Murphy of the company

lE Dunn Construction d/b/a Rives Worrell. David Simons was the lobbyist for said company at

all times relevant to this litigation.

21.

Defendant Heap has failed to investigate or prosecute one or more employees of lE

Dunn Construction d/b/a Rives Worrell when false · statements were made on sworn bid

documents to secure a

$21

million contract for the replacement of Hesse Elementary School.

22.

Defendant Heap received a campaign contribution from Jim Turner

of

the J.T. Turner

company.

Page 6 of

12

Ajibade, et aI. v. Meg Heap




23.

Defendant Heap has failed

to

investigate or prosecute one or more employees of J.T.

Turner when, upon infonnation and belief, false statements were made to property owners that

subcontractors had been paid, when in fact said subcontractors had not been paid.

24.

At all times relevant

to

this litigation, David Simons served as the lobbyist for both J.E.

UlUl

Construction d/b/a Rives Worrell and several other corporations. David Simons was paid

by these corporations.

25.

Additionally, David Simons served as a campaIgn consultant for

Var OUS

political

candidates, including, but not limited to, Defendant Heap and Sher iff St. Lawrence. The

political candidates paid David Simons.

26.

Although drawing a salary from the campaigns of Defendant Heap and Sheriff St.

Lawrence and other political candidates, David Simons would also donate money back to all of

the campaign committees from which he was being paid. Rather than donating back a portion of

his salary, David Simons was serving as a straw donor for the corporations for which he lobbied.

27.

Failing to register as a lobbyist violates O.C.G.A. § 21-5-70 et seq Masking campaign

contributions violates O.C.G.A. § 21-5-30

et seq

Notwithstanding these violations

of

law by

David Simons, and the personal knowledge

of

Defendant Heap that these laws were being

violated, Defendant Heap has failed to investigate or prosecute David Simons.

Page 7

of

12

Ajibade, et at. v. Meg Heap




28.

Due to Defendant Heap s failure or refusal to prosecute her campaign contributors, David

Simons, and/or clients of David Simons, the Plaintiffs have a real and reasonable fear that

Defendant Heap will not investigate the death

of

Mathew Ajibade fairly and impartially.

29.

Specifically, the Ajibade family

IS

afraid that Defendant Heap has chosen not to

investigate Sheriff St. Lawrence.

30.

Defendant Heap performed no investigation into this case for approximately five months

after Mathew Ajibade's death. Rather, Defendant Heap ignored her responsibility to review and

investigate the criminal death of an inmate in her jurisdiction, and instead deferred her

responsibilities to other law enforcement agencies, opting to sidestep an investigation which

would have led to the doorstep

of

Sheriff St Lawrence, and, eventually, to her own failures

regarding her obligations to inspect the Chatham County Jail.

31.

Since receiving an investigative report from the GBI, Defendant Heap and Sheriff St.

Lawrence have openly coordinated with each other in an attempt to shift one hundred percent

of

the blame for

Mathew s

death onto lower ranking officers and to conceal information from the

Ajibade family and public records from the public.

Page 8

of

12

Ajibade, et al.

v.

Meg Heap

Superior Court

of

Chatham County



32.

For the foregoing reasons Defendant Heap must be disqualified from any further action

in investigating or

presenting

criminal charges based

upon

the

actions

which caused the

death of Mathew

Ajibade.

DEFENDANT HEAP S INTEREST IN THE OUTCOME OF THE CASE

33.

The Chatham County Grand Jury has a duty under O.e.G.A. § 15-12-71(b)(1) to conduct

an annual inspection of

the Chatham County Jail.

34.

Defendant Heap and her staff supervise the Grand Jury and coordinate the Grand

Jury s

operations.

35.

Notwithstanding O.C.G.A. § 15-12-71(b)(1), Defendant Heap, since being sworn in as

District Attorney in 2013, has failed to instruct the Grand Jury to inspect the Chatham County

Jail.

36.

Rather, Defendant Heap and her staff inform the Grand Jurors that there is an "optional

tour" of the j ail, which they may attend at their discretion.

37.

Defendant Heap and her

staff

coordinate the date

of

the "tour," provide transportation to

and from the jail, one or more staff members of the

DA s

office attend the "tour."

Page 9 of 12


Superior Court

of

Chatham County



38.

Further, no report of the Chatham County Grand Jury reflecting

an

inspection

ofthe Jail s

operations has been filed with the Chatham County Superior Court in more than one year prior to

Mathew Ajibade's death.

39.

The Ajibade family will be filing a civil suit against any and all parties responsible for

Mathew s death. Due to her failure to ensure inspections of the

jail

as required by law, there is a

significant probability that Defendant Heap will be named as a defendant in that action by the

Ajibade family.

40 .

A District Attorney may not participate in the prosecution of a case where the District

Attorney has a personal interest in the outcome of the case. See McLaughlin v. Payne, 761 SE

2d 289 (2014). The conflict of the individual District Attorney attaches to the entire office of the

District Attorney, Id.

41

The fact that Defendant Heap will likely be named as a defendant in the Ajidabe civil suit

gives her an interest in the outcome of the criminal case arising from the same transaction or

occurrence, to wit: the death of Mathew Ajibade.

COUNT

II

M ND MUS G INST DEFEND NT HE P

42.

Plaintiffs repeat and re-allege paragraphs 1-41 as though fully set forth herein.

Page 10 of

12

Ajibade, et at. v. Meg Heap

Superior Court

of

Chatham County



43.

O.C.G.A.§IS-18-S(a)providesasfollows:

(a) When a district attorney's office is disqualified from interest or relationship to

engage in aprosecution,thedistrictattorneyshallnotifytheAttorneyGeneralof

thedisqualification.Uponreceiptof suchnotification,theAttorneyGeneralshall:

(1) Request the services of and thereafter appoint a district attorney, a

solicitor-general, or a retired prosecuting attorney as provided in Code

Section

15 18 30;

(2) DesignateanattorneyfromtheDepartmentof Law;or

(3) Appoint a competent attorney to actas district attorney pro tempore in

placeof thedistrictattorney.

44.

Forthereasonsstatedabove,DefendantHeapmustbeorderedbythisCourttonotifythe

GeorgiaAttorneyGeneralthatsheisdisqualifiedfrom furtherparticipation in investigating or

presenting criminal

charges

based upon the actions which caused the death

of Mathew

Ajibade.

WHEREFORE

Plaintiffsrequesttheybeaffordedthefollowingrelief:

(a) ThatthisCourtenteranOrderrequiringthe immediatedisqualificationof theOffice

of

the District Attorney for the Eastern Judicial Circuit from further participation in

investigating or presenting criminal charges based upon the actions which caused

thedeath of Mathew Ajibade

(b) ThatthisCourtenteran OrderdirectingDefendantHeaptonotify theGeorgiaAttorney

Generalof herdisqualificationfromfurtherparticipationin investigating

or

presenting

criminal

charges

based upon the actions which caused the death of Mathew

Ajibade;

Page 1Jof

12

Ajibade,etal.

v.

MegHeap

SuperiorCourtof ChathamCounty



(c) Any and all other relief as the Court deems just and proper.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 9

th

day o June, 2015.

{ {

Georgia Bar No. 126363

ttorney for Plaintif f

THE CLAIBORNE FIRM, P.C.

410 East Bay Street

Savannah, Georgia 3 1401

T: (912) 236-9559

F: (912) 236-1884

[email protected]

Page 12 o

12

Ajibade, et al.

v.

Meg Heap

Superior Court o Chatham County

mailto:[email protected]




IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF C H t O Q ~ l \ l ~ Q U T Y

STATE OF GEOR&A:

I'. Ur, IL -.

701 W 9 1 : 07

0 5 ? J ~

-J3

ADENIKE HANNAH AJIBADE,

SOLOMON OLUDAMISI AJIBADE, and

)

CHRISTOPHER OLADAPO,

Plaintiffs,

v.

MEG HEAP IN HER CAPACITY AS

EASTERN JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

DISTRICT ATTORNEY;

Defendant.

CERTIFICATION

UN ER RULE 3.2

Pursuant to Rules 3.2 and 3.4 o the Uniform Superior Court Rules and Local Rules o

the Eastern Judicial Circuit o Georgia, I hereby certify that there has been a case filed in the

Superior Court o the Eastern Judicial Circuit o Georgia, l

St. Lawrence. Sheriffof Chatham

County; Meg Heap. Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney

v.

WSA

V

Inc . Civil Action

Number: CV15-0441-J3

involving substantially the same parties or substantially the same

subject matter or substantially the same factual issues which would require the pleading to be

specifically assigned to the judge whom the original action was or is assigned.

Respectfully submitted, this 9

th

day o June, 2015.

_ _ _

WILLIAM

R

CLAIBORNE

Georgia Bar Number: 126363

ttorney

or

Plaintiffs

410 East Bay Street

Savannah, Georgia 31401

912) 236-9559 Telephone

912) 236-1884 Facsimile

wi

[email protected]

ENTERE JPK

JU 9

2 15







IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CHATHAM COUNTY

ST ATE OF GEORGIA




Plaintiffs,

v

MEG HEAP IN HER CAPACITY AS


DISTRICT ATTORNEY;

Defendant.

)

Civil Action No.: CVlS-

OS?; )

-J3

)

)

SUMMONS

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT:

MEG HEAP

IN

HER

CAPACITY AS EASTERN JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DISTRICT A

ITORNEY

133

MONTGOMERY

STREET, 6

TH

FLOOR

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31401

You are hereby summoned and required to file with the Clerk

of

said court and serve upon the

Plaintiffs

attorney, whose name and address

is:

THE CLAIBORNE

FIRM,

P.e.

410 EAST BAY STREET

SAVANNAH GEORGA 31401

an answer to the complaint which

is

herewith served upon you, within 30 days after service

of

summons

upon you, exclusive

of

the day

of

service. If you fail to do so,

judgment

by default will be taken against

you for the relie f demanded in the complaint.

This 9

th

day of

June,

2015.

Clerk

of

Superior Court

CHATHAM

COUNTY

TERE

JPK

UN

- 9

2 15



IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CHATHAM COUNTY

STATE OF GEORGIA




Plaintiffs,

v.

MEG HEAP IN

HER

CAPACITY AS


DISTRICT ATTORNEY;

Defendant.

)

Civil Action No.:

CVlS

5 ? J ~

-J3

)

)

)

SUMMONS

TO THE

ABOVE

NAMED

DEFENDANT:

MEG HEAP

IN HER

CAPACITY

AS

EASTERN

JUDICIAL

CIRCUIT

DISTRICT

ATTORNEY

133

MONTGOMERY

STREET, 6

T

FLOOR

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA 31401

Filed in the

Clerk's

Office this 9

t

day

of

June, 2015.

C

William R. Claiborne

PLAINTIFFS ATTORNEY



--------------------

---- --------------------

C1 •: 165:::::::21

FILED

OR RE ORD

IN CHATHAM SUPERIOR C O ~ T 0 9 / 2 0 1 5 0::: : 2 2 ~ r J I

PAID: 21 00

TERM

e . 1. t 1 < o : : : . : : : . ~ ~ / C1 txl::

uperiot

Court

of Ch

at

ham

County

Chatham u n t y Georgia

A

d l t<t flnnath

Aj,

IJadt,

Ltr()0/

VS.

ORIGINAL

Filed in the Clerk s Office this ft

day

of

f l l

_____

_

tJ(J 5

PLAINTIFF S ATIORNEY

ENTERE

JPK

JUN 2 15

































V

-----' . ,; ,-

=- .='-7=-----'

2015

Indictment No.

15CHM01205/X1506021, X1506022, X1506023

n the Superior Court of Chatham County, State of Georgia

JUNE TERM 2015

Defendant, on being

in

open court, pleads _________________________

Defendant

Attorney for Defendant

Defendant, on being in open court, PLEADS GUILTY and waives the right

to

trial by jury; the

presumption of innocence; the right

to

confront witnesses against oneself; the right

to

subpoena witnesses; the right to testify and

to

offer other evidence; the right

to

assistance of counsel during trial; the right not to incriminate oneself; and understands that by pleading

not guilty or remaining silent and not entering a plea, one obtains a jury trial.

Defendant

Attorney for Defendant

We, the Jury, find the defendant THUI\IIBPRINT(S) OF DEFENDANT

(left) (right)

FOREPERSON DATE

THE STATE OF GEORGIA

VERSUS

JASON PAUL KENNY,

MAXINE EVANS

and

GREGORY BROWN

(SPECIAL PRESENTMENT)

WITNESS(ES):

Agt. Cyrus Purdiman, GBI (Statesboro)

Inv. Nicole Meyers, CCSO IA

Dr. Stacey Desamours, GBI Crime Lab (Atlanta)

Meg Heap

District Attorney

Eastern Judicial Circuit

o

Georgia

CHRISTY BARKER

ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY

OFFENSE(S): FELONY MURDER, INVOLUNTARY

MANSLAUGHTER, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT,

CRUELTY TO INMATE, INVOLUNTARY

MANSLAUGHTER, PUBLIC RECORD FRAUD,

INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, PUBLIC RECORD

FRAUD AND MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT

) \

6 = t . \ ~ ~ I ' h ~ d - e . ~ - b 11

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i iJ

e ov\ 0.(\

o 1-h-e-.r

BILL :J. >

z ; ~ ~ L 2015

- - _> ddt:1M <;

FOR PERS N

Filed

in

office this

2 i flh

day of



STATE OF GEORGIA, COUNTY OF CHATHAM

BILL OF INDICTMENT

IN

THE SUPERIOR COURT OF SAID COUNTY,

SPECIAL PRESENTMENT)

THE GRAND JURORS selected, chosen and sworn for the County

of

Chatham to wit:

1. Marilyn Solana, Foreperson

2. Catherine Akins

15. Rhonda Johnson

3. Jennie Battle

16. Bryan Jones

4.

Gloria Bryant

,,:\7. DB O id L o l H ~

5.

Loretta Calvert

18. Dale Lepisto

6. Paulette Christie

19. Kenny Siu Quinones

7. Amelia Croft

20. Jamecia Ready

8. Linda Cook

~ 1 .

CotA8fiA9 RobinsoA

9. Tonja Davis

22. Peggy Todd

10.

Roseanne Dickerson

23. Victoria Yates

.

11.

Brian Hagan

24.

12. Tammy Harris

25.

13. Mike Holland 26.

14.

Kristy Horbachefsky

COUNT 1: FELONY MURDER, O.C.G.A. 16-5-1 (c) t-.JO

in the name

of

and on behalf

of

the citizens of the State

of

Georgia, charge and accuse JASON PAUL

KENNY, with the offense

of

FELONY MURDER, for that the said JASON PAUL KENNY,

in

the

County of Chatham and State of Georgia,

on

or about the 1st day

of

January, 2015, while

in

the

commission of the offense of Cruelty to An Inmate, a felony, caused the death

of

Matthew Ajibade, a

human being, by using excessive force, contrary to the laws

of

the State

of

Georgia, the good order,

peace and dignity thereof.

c

WI >

COUNT

2:

INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, O.C.G.A. 16-5-3(a) True.

And the jurors aforesaid, in the name of and on behalf

of

the citizens

of

the State of Georgia, further

charge and accuse JASON PAUL KENNY, with the offense of INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER,

for that the said JASON PAUL KENNY, in the County of Chatham and State of Georgia, on or about

the 1st day of January, 2015, while in the commission

of

reckless conduct, an unlawful act, caused

the death of Matthew Ajibade, a human being, without any intention to do so, by tasing him while he

was restrained, contrary to the laws of the State of Georgia, the good order, peace and dignity

thereof. .

\..ifl

K

VA..

COUNT

3:

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, O.C .G.A. 16-5-21

T

( U

e....,....

And the jurors aforesaid,

in

the name

of

and on behalf

of

the citizens

of

the State

of

Georgia, further

charge and accuse JASON PAUL KENNY, with the offense of AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, for that the

said JASON PAUL KENNY,

in

the County

of

Chatham and State of Georgia, on or about the 1st day

of

January, 2015, made an assault upon the person

of

Matthew Ajibade with a taser, an object and

device which when used offensively against a person

is

likely to result in serious bodily injury by drive

stunning him while he was restrained, contrary to the laws of the State

of

Georgia, the good order,

peace and dignity thereof.



COUNT 4: CRUELTY TO INMATE, O.C.G.A. 42-4-5 q r lle

And the jurors aforesaid, in the name of and on behalf of the citizens of the State of Georgia, further

charge and accuse JASON PAUL KENNY, with the offense of CRUELTY TO INMATE , for that the

said JASON PAUL KENNY, in the County of Chatham and State of Georgia,

on

or about the 1st day

of January, 2015, being a jailer at the Chatham County Detention Center, unlawfully cause willful

inhumanity to Matthew Ajibade, an inmate under the accused s care and custody by using excessive

force, contrary to the laws of the State of Georgia, the good order, peace and dignity thereof.

< 1JA <f

up

COUNT

5:

INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, O.C.G.A. 16-5-3(a) T f l.l €,

And the jurors aforesaid, in the name of and

on

behalf of the citizens of the State of Georgia, further

charge and accuse MAXINE EVANS, with the offense of INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, for that

the said MAXINE EVANS, in the County of Chatham and State of Georgia, between the 1st day of

January, 2015, and the 2nd day of January, 2015, the exact date of the offense being unknown to the

Grand Jury, while in the commission of reckless conduct, an unlawful act, caused the death of

Matthew Ajibade, a human being, without any intention to do so by failing to monitor him while he

was in restraints, contrary to the laws of the State of Georgia , the good order, peace and dignity

thereof.

COUNT 6: PUBLIC RECORD FRAUD, O.C.G.A. 45-11-1 T

f '<-t e

And the jurors aforesaid, in the name of and

on


charge and accuse MAXINE EVANS, with

the

offense of PUBLIC RECORD FRAUD, for that the said

MAXINE EVANS, in the County of Chatham and State of Georgia,

on

or about the 2nd day of

January, 2015, unlawfully falsified a Corrections Bureau Restraint Chair Log a document belonging

to the Chatham County Sheriff s Office, a public office within the State of Georgia, in that she entered

checks that did not occur, contrary to the laws of the State of Georgia, the good order, peace

and

dignity thereof.

COUNT 7: INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, O.C.G.A. 16-5-3(a)

And the jurors aforesaid, in the name of and on behalf of the citizens of the State of Georgia, further

charge and accuse GREGORY BROWN, with the offense of INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER, for

that the said GREGORY BROWN, in the County of Chatham

and

State of Georgia, between the 1st

day of January, 2015, and the 2nd day of January, 2015 , the exact date of the offense being unknown

to the Grand Jury, while in the commission of reckless conduct, an unlawful act, caused the death of

Matthew Ajibade, a human being, without any intention to do

so

by failing

to

monitor him while he

was in restraints, contrary to the laws of the State of Georgia, the good order, peace and dignity

thereof.



$-1

COUNT 8: PUBLIC RECORD FRAUD, O.C.G.A. 45-11-1 True.. v.tl


in

the name of

and on


charge and accuse GREGORY BROWN, with the offense of PUBLIC RECORD FRAUD, for that

the

said GREGORY BROWN,

in

the County of Chatham and State of Georgia, on or about the

2nd

day of

January, 2015, unlawfully falsified a Corrections Bureau Restraint Chair Log, a document belonging

to the

Chatham County Sheriff's Office, a public office within the State of Georgia ,

in

that he signed

the

log

indicating that checks occurred that did not occur, contrary

to

the laws of the State of Georgia,

the good order, peace and dignity thereof.

COUNT 9: MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT, O.C.G.

A.

16-10-20


in

the name of and on behalf of the citizens of the State of Georgia, further

charge and accuse GREGORY BROWN, with the offense

of

MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT, for

that the said GREGORY BROWN,

in

the County of Chatham

and

State of Georgia,

on

or about the

2nd

day of January, 2015, knowingly and willfully made a false statement

to

Agent Cyrus Purdiman of

the Georgia Bureau of Investigation

in

a death investigation, a matter within the jurisdiction of the

Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a department of state government, to wit: stating that he checked

Matthew Ajibade while

he

was

in

restraints, which checks did not occur, contrary

to

the laws

of the

State of Georgia, the good order, peace and dignity thereof.

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MEG HEAP

DISTRICT ATTORNEY


OF GEORGIA

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http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/U.~io.Y1



IN

HE

supERroR

33ts1%?6f3ff"AM

ouNry

:,l

ii'.i.,i:tir,)i

STATE

OF GEORGIA

V .

JASON

KENNY

MAXINE EVANS

GREGORY

ROWN

DrpswoeNr.

I r . io lc rntervr

Nos.

CR15-1

cR15-1396

<F

, ' r

CR15-1397'Js

ST AT E 'S

MOTION

FOR

IMPOSIT ION

OF A

GAG

ORDER

Comes

ow

he

State

f

Georgia,

y and

hrough

ts representative,

ssistant

istrict

Attorney

Christine

arker,

nd

moves

his

Court

o

order heparties

ndcounsel

or and

all

agents

f

allparties,

--

including

ttorneysor the

yictinlq

fumjly- n_d,heD_efendanrso refrain rom making nys&tenrents

regarding,

or releasing

nformation

concerning,

he

above-referenced

ase

hat they

know

or reasonably

should

know

will have

a

substantial

ikelihood

of n.raterially

rejudicing

n adjudicative

roceeding

n this

matter

o a ny media

outlet,

ncluding

but not limited

o radio,

elevision,

nd

newspaper

eporters,

nd

further

to

refrain from

making

any

written,

oral,

or electronic

statement

outside

of court

that any

person

contemplated

by said

order

would

reasonably

elieve

o

be disseminated

y

means

of public

communication,

ncluding,

without

limitation,

Facebook,

Twitter,

or any

other

form

of social

media.

n

support of this motion, the Stateshows he following:

1.

Attorney

for

the

victim's

family

have

iled

a Petition

for

Mandamus

and

Disqualification,

Civil

Action

No.

SPCVl50oO532

"Petition"

Attached

as

exhibit

{1),

seeking

o

disqualify

.

Meg Heap

[the

District

Attomey]

and

the

office

of the EasternJudicial

Circuit

Districr

Attorney

from

any

further

action

n investigating

or presenting

criminal

charges

based

upon the

actions

which

caused

the

deathof

Mathew

Ajibade"

and further

asking

hat

a District

Attorney pro

temporebe

ppointed

"in

all

matters

elated

o the

death

of Mathew

Ajibade.

(Pet.

). Plaintiffs

conrend

nter

aliathat

DefendantHeap is barredunder Georgia aw from

investigating

or presenting

criminal

charges

because

f her

relationship

with

Chatham

County

Sheriff

Al

St. Lawrence

and her

,,personal

interest"

in the

outcome

of the

case. Id.

at

ifif

16,29,40).

The

claims

of

the

victim's

family

attorneys

are

meritless,

but regardless

f the

merits

of

the claims,

a gag

order

s

warranted

under

Georgia

aw

with

respect

o

this

matter

for

the reasons

ddressed

elow.



Z.

Counsel

or the victim's

family in

this

action have

made extrajudicial

comments

o

variousmedia

outlets

egarding

potential evidentiary

ssues hat

may be addressed

t the

hearings

or trial

in this

action,

aswell

as n the

Petition and

n

a civil suit

in

this Court,

St.Lawrence

.

WSAV' Inc., Civil

Action

No. SPCV15OO447

hereinafter

he

"WSAV

Case").

Specifically,

he

State hows

he

following:

a. Most

recently,onJune

24,201.5,

ictim's

family

attorneys,

William Claiborne

ndMark

O'Mara,

have

publicly

accused

he State

of

"white

washing"

he case

n statements

o

BuzzFeed

nd he

Boston

Herald.

attached sexhibits

A2 &

A3). Thesc

statements,

includine

additional peculation

bout

he actual

evidence,

ave

been

epeated

n other

nerrr nrrfletq eftrched rs exhihits A4-A1Z-

b .

(-

Victim's

family attorney,

Williarn

Claiborne,

has posted

comments

about

evidentiary

matters,

ncluding the

basis

or the

arrest

of Mathew

Ajibade

on

liis Facebook

ccount

(attachedas

Exhibit A);

Victim's

family attorney)

William

Claiborne,

has

postedcomments

o his Facebook

account

egarding

GrandJury

responsibilities

hat

according

o the

Petition would

form

the

basisof

a awsuit

against

he

State

(attachedas Exhibit

B);

Victim's family attorney,William Claiborne,hasmadecomments o variousmediaoutlets

and hasbeen

quoted in articles

egarding

potential evidence,

how many

peopleshould

be

criminally

charged,

and the

contents

of a

death certificate,

n stories

dating

as ar back

as

May

8, 2015,

andin media

outlets

as ar-reaching

as he

U.K.'s

Daily

Mail

(attached s

Exhibits C-N);

Victim's family

attorney,

Mark

O'Mara,

has

made comments

on Twitter

and on

his blog

regarding

he criminal

investigation

and

policy changes

made

by the Sheriff's

department,

leading o speculation or the basisof thesechanges attachedasExhibit O);

Victim's

family

attorney, Mark

O'Mara,

has made comments

o various

media outlets

and

hasbeen

quoted

n

articles

egarding

potential evidence,

ncluding

claims egarding

"beating"

and

purported cover

up,

in stories

dating

as ar

back

asJanuary

612015, nd

n

media

outlets

ncluding CNN

(attachedas

Exhibits

P-NN);

d .



g. The State

has

eceivednumerous

equests

or response

o

claims

made

by victim's

family

arrorneys

rom

media outlets

(attachedascollective

Exhibit

OO),

and finally;

h. Such

stories

havebeenbroadcast

n

air, asshown

n Exhibit

PP .

It is clear rom the

above acts

and

associated

xhibits

hat

attorneys

William Claiborne

and

Mark

O'Mara

have

made

extensive

omments

directly

addressing

otential rial

ssues

n each

of these

stories.

3. Counsel

or the victim's

farnilyhave

epresented

he

amily of Mathew

Ajibade

during he

criminal

investigation

elated o the

death of

Mathew

Ajibade

and

have

urther

been

nvolved

n the

investigation

and litigation

of various

matters

now

pending

before he

Court,

including

he

Petition

and he

WSAV

Case.

Throughout

he

course

of these

matters

and

as

demonstrated

bove,

ounsel

- for the-yictlrr/s-family-havcextensively-engagedin-extrajudi,cial com.mentarysld-5olieited nedia----- -

coverage

f the same.

Notably,

a copy

of the

Petition

was

received

by

Dave

Kartunen

of WSAV

before

hc

Statewas

even

served,as

shown

n Exhibit

MM.

Moreover)

as evidenced

y

F,xhibit

NN,

Mr. Claiborne

s

directly soliciting

media

coverage.

4. These

ndictments

elate

o the oss

of a

human

ife; n such

cases,

t

is of

paramount

mportance

o

all parties

including

the

decedent's

amily,

the

prosecuting

authorities,

any persons

accused

f

wrongdoing,

and the

public at

large

-

that the

fairness

of the

judicial

process

be

preserved.

5. The saturationof the media by the attorneys or the victim in this casemay prompt the Defendants

and their

agents

o feel

that they

need o

respond

n

kind. Further,

two

of

the Defendants

nd heir'

attorneys

were

present

or the

presentation

of

evidence

o the

GrandJury,

and hus

havemore

complete

nformation

than the

public at large.

While this

information

is

privileged

aspart of

the

GrandJury

process, he temptation

to respond

o

any naccuracies

n the

media

coverage

will be

suong.

6.

This case

s

governed

by Atlanta Journal-Consti tution

.

State,266

Ga.

App.

168

2004) and

Rule

3.6

of the State

Bar of Georgia

Rules

of

Professional

Conduct.

Rule 3.6,

as

cited by the

Georgia

Court

of Appeals

n Atlanta Journal-Constitu tion,266

Ga.

App.

at 169,

states hat

[a]

lawyer

who

is

participating or

has

participated n the

investigation

or

litigation

of a

matter

shall

not

make an extrajudicial

statement

hat a

person

would

reasonably

elieve

to

be disseminated

y

meansof

public

communication

f the

awyer

knows or

reasonably



should

know

that it will

have a substantial

ikelihood of

materially

prejudicing

an

adjudicative

proceeding n the

matter.

Comment

5A to Rule

3.6 states

hat

"

ltlhere

are...

certain ubjects

which

are rore

ikely han

no t

to

have

a material

prejudicial effect

on a

proceeding,

particularly

when

they

refer to a

civil matter

triable

o a

ury,

a crimirral

matter,

or any other

proceeding hat

could

result

n

incarceration.

Such subjects

isted

nclude

"

the character,

credibility,

reputation

or

criminal

record of

a

party,

suspect

n a criminal

nvestigation r

witness,

r the

dentifyof

a witness

or the

expectedestimony

of a

party or witness

" "

the

performanceor

results of

any examinations

r tes t, or

the identity

or

natureofphysicai

evidence xpected

o be

presentedl"

and

"any

opinion

as o the

guilt or

innocence

f

a defendant

r suspect

n a criminalcase

r proceeding

liat

could

esult

n an

incarceration."Id.;

Sea

lsoAtlantaJournal-Constitution,266Ga.

pp.

at 769-77O

quoting

7

Directory

Rule

7-107

StateBar of Ga.)

(repealed 001)),which

preceded nd

argely

mirrors he

subjects

isted

n Cornment

5A.).

As

shown by

the attached

exhibits,

counsel

or the

victim's

family have

madestatements

eiated

o

this

criminal

action, he

Petition, and

the

WSAV Case

commenting

nter

alia on

a.

The character

and

rcputation of

those

potentiallyaccused;

b.

The

performance

and results of

examinations,

uch

as hc autopsy;

c.

The credibility

of potentialwitnesses;

nd

d. The

guilt/innocence

f those

potentially

ccused,he

evidence,

nd he

merits

of the

case.

These comments

are violative of

the

professional nd

ethical

ules of the

StateBar

of Georgia

et

out above

and demonstrate

he desireof

the Plaintiffs

o manipulate

nediacoverage

o

gain

favorable

attention. See,

.g.,United

States .

Brown,218

F 3d

415

5th

Cir.

2000).

As such,

hey

are

likely

to affect

he

ability of all

parties o have

hese

cases djudicated

by an

mpartial ribunal.

Rockdale itizen

Publishingu.

State,266

Ga.92

(1995).

Furthermore, Rule 3.4(h) of the GeorgiaRules of Professional onductprohibits a awyer rom

"presentfing],

participating n

presentfing]

or threatenfing]

o

presentcriminal

charges

olely

o

obtain

an advantage

n a civil

matter.

The

Petition constitutes

participation

n presenting

riminal

charges

s contemplated

by Rule 3.a(h)

n that:



a.

The

petition

repeatedly

dentifies

sheriff

A1

st'

Lawrence

as

a

"potential

defendant"

o

criminal

charges

or

,,potential

criminal

defendant"

and

states

hat

"his

actions

and/or

inactions

hould

be

under

nvestigation

y

Defendant

Heap."

(Pls''

Pet'

[13;See

d'

atIlfl

15,16,30);

nd

b.

The

petition

seeks

o

disqualify

he

District

Attorney

and

her

office

"from

any

urther

action

n

investigating

or

presenting

criminal

charges

ased

upon

the

actions

which

caused

the

death

of

Mathew

Aiibade'"

(Id'

at7)'

The

identification

f

persons

who

are

"potential

criminal]

defendants"

and

"should

be

under

fcrirninal]

nvestigation',,

aSwell

as

lre

attempt

to

disqualify

a district

attorney

rom

presenting

criminal

charges

s

precisely

he

type

of

participation

n

presenting

criminal

charges

ontemplated

--jy Rule 3.a(h). Such pslficjpatio,r i,slmper 0issible-iulier9#

herg,

the

Petition

has

bcen

brought

with

the

obvious

sole

ntent

of

obtaining

an

advantage

n

civil

matters

n

which

counsel

or

the

victim,s

family

are

also

nvolved.

lhe

petition

repeatedly

cferences

he

fact

that

"

ft]he

Ajibade

family

has

claims

against

Defendant

Heap...

which

have

be

en

asserted

n

[the

WSAV

Case]

and

thattheAjibadefamilywil lbef i l ingacivi lsuitagainst . .anyandallpart iesresponsibleforMathew

[Ayibade,s]

death,,

which

will

,.likely"

name

Defendant

Heap

as

a

defendant'

Petition

g[qT

1,

12,

39,4I).In

f-act,

n

entire

section

of

the

Petition

s

devoted

o

discussion

f the

WSAV

Case

n

whichPlaint i f fsherehaveintervenedasdefendants'(Pls ' ' ,Pet '1T1T7-1'6) ' I t isclearbasedonthe

Petition

that

counsel

or

victim's

family's

purpose

s

to

obtain,

hrough

the

Petition

tself

and

he

media

attention

garnered

herefrom,

an

advantage

n

the

existing

civil

case

nvolving

he

state

and

anypotendalfuturecivi lact ionbyt lrevict im'sfamilyagainst theState.

g .F ina l ly , theremedysoug l r tbySta tehere in isnar rowly ta i lo red in tha t

a.

It

is

not

permanent,

but

rather

s limited

to

the

time

span

during

which

the

current

criminal

action

s

pending

before

he

Court;

b.

It

does

not

involve

prior

restraint

anddoesnot in anyway imit the abilityof the media o

lawful lygatherandreport tothepublicnewsrelatedtothismatter land

c.

It

does

not

purport

to

preclude

any

person

connected

with

this

matter

from

identifying

information

such

as

court

dates,

ypes

of

hearings,

nd

other

factual

nformation

without



comment

or

opinion

with

respect

o the

proceedings

hemselves

r

the

evidence

adduced

therein.

WHEREF

ORE,

the

State

respectfully

urges

his

Court

to enter

an

order

restraining

he

parties

and

counsel

or and

all

agents

of the

State,

he

victim's

family,

and

Defendants

o refrain

from

making

any

statenents

about,

or

releasing

nformation

concerning,

hese

cases

hat

they

know

or

reasonably

hould

know

will

have

a subsrantial

ikelihood

of

materially

rejudicing

n

adjudicative

roceeding

o any

media

outlet,

ncludilg,

but

not

limited

to

radio,

elevision,

nd

newspaper

eporters,

nd

urther

o

refrain

rom

making

any

written,

oral,

or

electronic

statement

outside

of

court

that any

person

contemplated

y

said

order

would

easonably

elieve

o

bedisseminated

y

means

f

publiccoTlgunie*tin.

TfirdfuofJune,

2015.

133

Montgomery

St.,

Room

600

Savannah,

A

31401

Tel: 912-652-7308

CHRISTINE

S.

BARKER

Georgia

ar

No.

645851



IN THE

SUPERIOR COURT

OF CHATHAM COUNTY

STATE OF GEORGIA

ST AT E OF 'GEOR GI A

INorc r :uENrNos .

D E r E N o e N r s .

This

s

to

certify hat have his day

served

he oregoing TATE'S MOTION FOR IMPOSITION

OF A GAG ORDER to the

ollowins

counsel f

record ia US Mail addresseds ollows:

JASON

KENNY

MAXINE EVANS

GREGORY ROWN

WilliamR.Claiborne

The

Claiborne

irrn.P.C.

---- 41Oiasl BavStreel

Savannah.

A 31401

Bobby Phillips

4O28.

Liberty Street

Savannah,

A 31401

Willie T. Yancey

P.O.Box2845

Savannah,GA37402

Gregory Brown

13 Night Heron Way

Port Wentworth, GA

ThirdkyofJune, 2015.

133Montgomery

St,

Room

600

Savannah.GA 31401

Tel: 972-652-7308

CHRISTINES.

BARKER

Georgia ar

No.

645857







Documents

Mathew Ajibade Case (Full list of documents)