Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk has decided to charge nine employees of the Shelby County Jail with second-degree murder in the death at 201 Poplar last year of inmate Gershon Freeman, the Memphis Flyer has learned, though the indictments so far remain sealed.
Ironically, the news from Nashville comes amid an ongoing investigation of Funk himself by state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti for illegal wiretapping of his employees and other offenses.
The case of Freeman was transferred to Funk’s jurisdiction earlier this year after Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy recused himself, suggesting that further handling of the case locally would be “inappropriate.” Funk got the case, which Sheriff Floyd Bonner said had been “passed on” by Mulroy.
Brice Timmons, one of several lawyers representing the Freeman family in legal proceedings, said it was done through “random selection.”
Bonner was at a hastily called Wednesday press conference at 201 Poplar to speak about the charges. In the wake of his press conference, Timmons said Bonner may have “broken the law” in trying to get ahead of what would inevitably become breaking news. Timmons noted that the indictments had not yet been unsealed (and would not be until Monday), and he implied that Bonner had leaked news of the indictment prematurely for political purposes.
At his press conference, Bonner had said the indictment itself was political and heaped scorn upon both Mulroy and Funk. Asked who might have a political stake in Funk’s action, Bonner — who is one of several candidates for mayor of Memphis in this year’s city election — said only, “You’ve seen the ads,” a cryptic answer. While several of his opponents have made references to jail deaths on Bonner’s watch, a particular TV spot devoted to the subject doesn’t come immediately to mind.
The Sheriff said he stood by his accused employees and said that none of them had done anything to cause Freeman’s death.
Freeman died last year after being booked at Shelby County Jail on charges of kidnapping and threatening his ex-girlfriend. He took his clothes off in his cell and manged to escape from it after being maced, triggering a prolonged chase of him by several deputies across two floors of the jail, during which there were violent physical efforts on numerous jailers’ part to subdue the escapee.
During the resultant mayhem, Freeman, who had been on mental-health watch at the jail, suffered cardiac arrest, collapsed, and died. Funk would later release a graphic video of the chase.
The family of Freeman subsequently filed suit against Sheriff Bonner and Shelby County government. The lawsuit noted a lack of formal structure for mental or behavioral health services despite having about 350 inmates with behavioral health issues.
The Freeman incident inevitably entered the political realm with Bonner running for mayor. The Sheriff has often been in the spotlight on account of the 40-odd deaths that have occurred on his watch in a jail whose health-and-welfare issues are serviced, via county contract, by WellPath. as he tirelessly points out.
Funk’s bombshell comes the very week that previously sealed evidence about alleged improprieties by Funk was released following a freedom-of-information suit by Nashville TV station WTVF.