JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The personal attorney for 32-year-old Rashaud Martin, a schizophrenic man who died in the custody of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, is raising questions about what happened in the moments before Martin died.
According to police reports, Martin was found unresponsive by officers outside of the Mental Health Resources Center on 3333 W 20th Street on Friday, October 24th. Officers said they decided to Baker Act him following a domestic disturbance call at his mother’s home on Harriet Avenue.
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Attorney Justin Drach, who has represented Martin since 2021, told Action News Jax he learned the details of the police report related to this incident through an Action News Jax report - not from the police.
Drach says that before Action News Jax aired the news of Martin’s death, he had submitted a public records request to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for body camera footage related to the incident.
Drach says that the request was sent just before 10 in the morning on Tuesday, October 29th.
On that same day, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office released a media report to local news outlets about the incident.
Action News Jax received the release at 12:28 that afternoon, nearly two and a half hours after Attorney Drach had submitted his records request.
Drach says both he and Martin’s family were blindsided by the release of the information, and that the information in JSO’s media release was never shared with him or Martin’s family directly. Attorney Drach also says the sheriff’s office still has not responded to his request for body camera video footage. Drach says the timing of the release of the information is suspicious.
“They haven’t provided me a police report. I got the police report from you,” Drach told Action News Jax.
According to the news release, when officers were called to this mother’s house the night of October 24th, Martin tried to run when officers arrived, but he was taken into custody without incident.
Police say Martin showed signs of distress, like incoherent speech and “disassociation with reality.”
Officers then called JFRD to evaluate him, and after it was determined that Martin should be Baker Acted, Martin was taken to the Mental Health Resource Center on Jacksonville’s Northside.
The report continues, saying that when police arrived at the center with Martin in the patrol car, he became unresponsive while waiting to be admitted.
The police report lists that Martin had used drugs, and that officers administered multiple doses of Narcan, but it did not revive him.
He was later pronounced dead at UF Health Jacksonville after he was transported from the parking lot of the mental health center.
Attorney Drach is especially concerned about the Narcan use, saying Martin was never a drug user in the four years that he has known him.
In a phone call with Martin’s mother, his family also confirmed to Action News Jax that Martin did not use drugs.
But they did confirm that he had been on his medication for his schizophrenia diagnosis at the time of his arrest.
JSO’s report, however, alleges that Martin was not on his medication at the time of the incident - something Martin’s family repeatedly told Action News Jax was not true.
The family says Martin is prescribed Xanax and Gabapentin - both of which he had taken the day of his arrest, according to his family.
The police report confirms body camera footage exists and lists the incident location as the mental facility’s parking lot. The case is listed as a homicide and is being handled by JSO’s Cold Case Unit while the investigation continues.
Drach says that’s exactly why he’s pushing for the release of the body cam video.
“That’s a huge change going from the description that’s in the report that was released to being unresponsive,” he said. “I want to know, was he left alone in the car at any point in time? Because certainly somebody that is experiencing a medical emergency — such that you need to call JFRD — probably should not be left alone in a vehicle.”
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The attorney doubled down that JSO’s timing of the release of information to the media is questionable.
“The timing is uncanny,” Drach said. “Two hours later on a Tuesday, they contact the media when an attorney starts digging? That tells me somebody was probably looking at the requests that are coming in and saw something that might be newsworthy.”
Attorney Drach says he knows exactly what he wants to see from JSO.
“Obviously we’re going to want to know the names of the law enforcement officers that were involved in the incident. We’re going to want to see all of the body camera footage that was taken. If somebody deactivated their body camera, which may have happened - we don’t know yet - I want to know why. We’re going to want to see the footage that would depict Rashaud in the back of the JSO vehicle, and then obviously we’re going to want to hear statements.”
The attorney said he still hasn’t heard back from JSO for the records and body camera footage that he requested.
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“They haven’t responded to me yet. It’s kinda interesting when you make a public records request... I think they’re saying that they’re like 6 to 8 months behind in providing body camera footage... but I can tell you that we will get it much sooner than that. If they try to inhibit our investigation, we will do what we have to.”
When we reached out to the sheriff’s office to ask them about Drach’s claims and about the timing of the media release, they said they were working on answering our questions. A spokesperson with the sheriff’s office did, however, confirm a backup on body cam requests.
The sheriff’s office says it’s still waiting on autopsy and toxicology results from the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Drach says those results — and the body camera video — will be key to understanding all that happened leading up to Martin’s death.
Attorney Justin Drach says he first represented Rashaud Martin in 2021. Martin was trying to elope at UF Health Shands Hospital when he was tackled by a security guard, breaking his ankle. The parties settled the lawsuit amicably.
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