JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Medical records first obtained by The Tributary are showing a clearer picture of the condition of an inmate who died after an incident in the Duval County Jail.
It’s been one month since Charles Faggart was taken from the jail to the hospital, where he died from his injuries days later.
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The incident that happened before Faggart’s death led to nine Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office employees being removed from their positions and being stripped of their corrections authority.
Faggart’s medical records were first obtained and reported by The Tributary, which shared the records with Action News Jax.
The Tributary is a local “nonprofit newsroom producing high-impact government accountability and investigative journalism in the public interest,” its website states.
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The records paint a more graphic picture than what JSO unveiled when it released a redacted incident report.
According to the medical records, on April 7, Faggart was suffering from cardiac arrest when emergency medical services (EMS) first arrived on the scene at the Duval County Jail.
EMS immediately began administering CPR and intubated him.
RELATED: Report reveals incident that preceded Duval inmate Charles Faggart’s death stretched over 2 hours
Faggart was transported to the hospital. When he arrived, the report then states Faggart had taser barbs removed from his back, something that was not listed in JSO’s redacted report.
The records also state that Faggart did not suffer a seizure and did not have fentanyl in his system. The JSO report said officers witnessed Faggart suffer a seizure and it also says he told them he had taken fentanyl.
The medical records also state Faggart had nasal bone fractures, facial fractures, rib fractures, bruising, acute kidney and liver injuries, and he was “unresponsive.”
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We reached out to JSO on Wednesday for an interview to comment on these findings. The agency declined but did release the following statement:
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office understands that certain members of the public would like information about the facts gathered in the investigation into Mr. Charles Faggart’s death immediately. JSO has not and will not release details of the gathered evidence nor protected medical records. Releasing information about evidence in this case before the criminal investigation is completed would be contrary to the law and the agency’s duty to protect the integrity of the criminal investigation. Likewise, JSO will not comment in any way on what is being purported as evidence, as doing so would hinder the criminal investigation’s integrity.
“Sheriff Waters has repeatedly stated that when the criminal investigation is completed, he will share that information with, first, the Faggart family, and then, the public. Thorough death investigations take time and multi-agency coordination. The SAO continues its independent criminal investigation. Likewise, the FBI continues to provide support. JSO’s primary responsibility is to complete a comprehensive investigation and provide the Faggart family with the answers concerning their loved one’s passing.”
Chris Carson is a criminal defense attorney with many years of experience. He said the type of injuries Faggart sustained, according to the report, and the setting he was in when it happened, suggest they were blunt force trauma injuries.
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“It is suggestive that there was some type of serious potential confrontation that resulted in likely punches, kicks or some other use of force,” Carson said.
We asked Carson what, after reading the injuries in the report, he could tell about what could come from JSO’s investigation.
“It means that they’re going to have to take a hard look at if the force was indeed utilized by an employee of the sheriff’s office, there is going to be, and there needs to be an extensive review of whether that force was legitimate force or whether that force went beyond what would be permissible,” Carson said.
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We asked Carson if he saw inconsistencies between JSO’s redacted report from what the medical report states.
“It’s kind of hard to say from the reports, but I suspect a lot of that will be forthcoming as this all goes forward,” Carson said.
We reached out to the Faggart family attorney for a statement on Wednesday. As of the publication of this article, they have not gotten back to us.
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