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“Ethically, I cannot bring forward a case that I know I cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and I cannot prove criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt in this case,” said she said at a press conference.
Sutherland, who suffered from mental illness, died Jan.5 while being held at Sheriff Al Cannon’s Detention Center in North Charleston.
He was being held because of an incident at a behavioral health center on Jan. 4 in which he was accused of committing “an offense of mere assault on a member of the nursing staff,” said Mark A. Peper, a Sutherland family lawyer. month.
Wilson said the charges must reflect evidence, not emotions, but added that policy changes must take place to prevent future deaths.
“We have the opportunity to change the way we think about and treat people with mental illness,” she said. “I hate it, that it happened to Jamal Sutherland, he didn’t deserve this. He didn’t ask that. It’s not his fault.
“But if the detention center doesn’t change its training, it will happen again. There is no doubt about it.”
Sutherland’s mother, Amy Sutherland, told reporters at a family press conference: “The state let them get away with a murder.” She called her son’s death a lynching.
She said her faith in God tells her that the two former detention officers “don’t get away with anything.”
Peper called on state lawmakers to pass a new use of force law. His colleague Gary Christmas said the current South Carolina statue emphasizes state of mind, which may be difficult for prosecutors to prove.
“Give these lawyers the tools they need to hold people accountable for the senseless acts that have happened,” Peper said.
Amy Sutherland said justice was denied but she was angry with the state, not the prosecutor.
“For attorney Scarlett, I was angry at first,” Sutherland said, “But I think she did a good job, I think she told my family that the laws need to change – and if the laws have to change, I can’t be mad at her. ”
‘What does that mean?’ Jamal Sutherland asked
“What does that mean?” Sutherland can be heard saying on video as MPs enter his cell and one tells him not to resist. A medic is seen asking to check Sutherland’s vital signs after struggling with the officers.
“It was tased about six to eight times, at least,” an officer told the doctor.
Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal said after the preliminary autopsy, she reviewed additional evidence – toxicology reports, audio and video transcripts, medical records and medical equipment – to make her decision to change the document.
O’Neal said his team of forensic experts believed Sutherland died of a cardiac event, possibly fatal dysrhythmia, the medical term for an abnormal heart rhythm.
Three factors likely contributed to this ultimately fatal heart disease, she said. One of these was the subdual process as the detention officers attempted to get Sutherland out of this cell.
CNN’s Amir Vera and Gregory Lemos contributed to this report.
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