New concerns are being raised over the handling of the controversial arrest of 22-year-old William McNeil Jr.
The case gained national attention after McNeil released cellphone video of his February arrest over the weekend, in which he can be seen being hit in the face by a Jacksonville Sheriff’s officer while seated in the driver’s seat of his car.
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Now McNeil’s attorneys claim he was never offered a chance to speak with the State Attorney’s Office before it cleared the officers of criminal charges.
Action News Jax told you Tuesday about inconsistencies between the cellphone video from McNeil’s February traffic stop and arrest, and the official reports filed by JSO officers.
Those inconsistencies included the lack of any mention of the first hit to McNeil’s face in the reports and the claim McNeil attempted to grab the knife found on his car floor after he’d been pulled from the car by officers, which doesn’t seem to be reflected in the video.
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“And we can only imagine, had he had not been filming that video, what would the narrative been,” McNeil’s attorney Benjamin Crump said.
Now, McNeil’s attorneys also claim their client was never contacted by the State Attorney’s Office as it reviewed whether the officers involved in his February arrest committed any violations of criminal law.
“How can you make a determination of no criminality before you get a chance to talk to Mr. McNeil? What I believe it was, and I’m gonna say it, whitewashing,” attorney Harry Daniels, who is also representing McNeil, said.
RELATED: First hit to man’s face by JSO officer omitted in all police reports related to controversial arrest
John Jay College of Criminal Justice Professor Dennis Kenney told Action News Jax it’s unusual for a victim’s voice to be left out of an investigation into their alleged assailants.
“If you’re investigating it as a potential crime, then the potential victim has a right to be heard,” Kenney said.
We reached out to the State Attorney’s Office after the Wednesday’s press conference asking why McNeil was never interviewed.
We haven’t heard back.
On Tuesday, we also asked the State Attorney’s Office whether it examined McNeil’s cell phone video during its review.
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More than 24 hours later, we still have not gotten an answer.
McNeil’s attorneys suggested they believe it’s possible the State Attorney’s Office may have ignored that evidence and deferred to the body cam footage and official reports, which fail to show or make mention of the first strike to McNeil’s face.
“And I would assume they saw the body cam video from the police department and they said, ‘Well, no problem.’ They saw everything that America is seeing and said ‘No problem’ and that is the problem,” Crump said.
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McNeil’s legal team said their client chipped a tooth, bit his lip and had to get multiple stitches, and suffered a concussion during the arrest.
They didn’t specify how they plan to proceed legally, but said they plan to explore every possible legal remedy to get justice for McNeil.
Since McNeil has retained legal counsel, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters announced his agency will not comment any further on the circumstances surrounding McNeil’s arrest in anticipation of a potential lawsuit.
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