Matthew Ajibade family files complaint after waiting months for report on death in custody

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/10/matthew-ajibade-family-files-complaint-investigation

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For more than six months, Matthew Ajibade’s family has waited for answers.

His parents have wanted to know exactly how their 21-year-old son – who three years ago moved to Savannah, Georgia – died inside an isolation cell of a jail. Meanwhile, his cousin Chris Oladapo has hoped for officials to take responsibility.

With growing concerns about the ongoing investigation, , Ajibade’s family has now pushed for a judge to allow an independent prosecutor to handle the case.

Lawyers representing the Ajibade family have filed a petition which asks for a judge to remove Chatham County district attorney Meg Heap from the investigation into Ajibade’s death. The legal challenge, filed on Tuesday, comes five days after a local coroner ruled the former Savannah College of Art and Design student’s death a homicide by blunt force trauma.

The complaint claims that Heap has several conflicts of interests, which have led her to release few details about Ajibade’s death, stall the investigation, and hurt his family’s chance at getting a fair trial.

“We want for a fair and impartial person to take a look at everyone who is responsible for causing his death,” said William Claiborne, a Savannah-based attorney working with the Ajibade family. “We do not think the current prosecutor will be that fair and impartial person that every victim of a crime is entitled to.”

The petition follows months of delays with the criminal investigation into why Ajibade was killed inside a jail cell, hours after being arrested on 1 January during what is thought to have been a manic bipolar disorder episode, something Oladapo says his cousin had battled for at least three years.

Savannah-Chatham metropolitan police officers, who tried to stop Ajibade from grasping his girlfriend during the incident near his home, said he refused to comply with their orders. The police report said he resisted arrest in a “violent manner”.

At the county jail, deputies placed Ajibade inside an isolation cell’s restraining chair after a fight allegedly broke out during the booking process, resulting in multiple officers’ injuries. During a second welfare check – a safety protocol that’s required to take place every 15 minutes – officers found Ajibade unresponsive.

“It’s total disregard of life,” says Oladapo. “There’s this kid being killed in the hands of the people supposed to protect him. Then they took all the time to protect themselves beyond standing up to the truth.”

Instead of sharing information about Ajibade’s death, Heap and Chatham County sheriff Al St Lawrence have allegedly withheld public documents required to be release under the state’s Open Records Act, the petition says. Because of that decision, local TV station WSAV recently sued St Lawrence to force him to release the records.

Both Heap and St Lawrence, who are now both co-plaintiffs and share the same lawyer in the suit, have sought a court order preventing the family from accessing more documents on Ajibade’s case. The petition alleges Heap’s current position against the Ajibade family has placed her in an “impermissibly conflicted position” that should ban her office from the case.

The petition also alleges that Heap has a “political alliance” with St Lawrence, who donated twice to her 2012 campaign. During that year’s election, they each hired local political consultant David Simons. Since winning office, Heap has refused to investigate or prosecute individuals or groups working with Simons. The district attorney also failed to investigate all of Heap’s campaign donors, including two individuals from two construction companies who made false statements related to large contracts.

According to the petition, both companies had hired Simons to be a lobbyist, a position he allegedly failed to register for with the state, as required by law, and served as a “straw donor” for corporations by donating his campaign salaries back to its campaign committees. Heap did not investigate Simons.

Due to those alleged conflicts, the Ajibade family fears Heap won’t properly investigate their son’s death. The complaint says she decided to “sidestep” her office’s responsibilities for more than five months. . Last month, St Lawrence fired nine jail officers for their role in Ajibade’s death.

When asked about the complaint’s merits, Heap writes that Georgia’s Rules of Professional Conduct “prevents attorneys from discussing open cases,” including the current Ajibade probe. She says the case should be discussed in a courtroom – and not with the press – to ensure all parties receive justice.

“[The] criminal justice system runs the risk of being compromised for personal agendas,” Heap writes. “A formal response and objection will be filed with the court and heard in the court and not in the media.”

A criminal grand jury is expected to hear the Ajibade case starting on 24 June. The Ajibade family has said a civil lawsuit will follow the criminal case – something that Heap could again be asked to handle.