Amherst County Deserves Explanation in Taylor Death
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The News & Advance
Published: April 19, 2008
To function properly with a democracy, a law enforcement agency needs to have the trust, confidence and support of the community it serves.
The Amherst County Sheriff’s Department needs to remember that in the days ahead.
It’s been almost three years since Sanchez Jarkel Taylor ran out of gas on U.S. 29, just south of Faulconerville in Amherst County. Three years since he trekked up the hill to Bethel’s Welding the afternoon of June 16, 2005, to see if he could borrow the phone to call for help. Three years since Sanchez Jarkel Taylor died of injuries incurred at the hands of five sheriff’s deputies.
Five deputies responded to a call of a “suspicious” young black man “lurking” around the business just after 5 p.m. When the first two arrived, they ordered Taylor down on his knees, and he immediately complied. He was then maced and hit with a baton; when he managed to get up and began struggling, they threw him down to the ground again atop a metal rack. Three more deputies arrived and, after another struggle, basically sat on Taylor, with his face to the ground, and hogtied him.
That was the point — 5:40 p.m. — when one of the deputies noticed he wasn’t breathing. One hour and 22 minutes later, at 7:24 p.m., he was dead.
After Taylor’s autopsy results came in, Dr. David N. Cresson, a Lynchburg pathologist, declared his death a homicide, the killing of one human being by the act or omission of another.
Amherst Sheriff Jimmy Ayers called in the Virginia State Police to conduct an investigation; Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Maddox asked Halifax County prosecutor Kim White to handle the legal duties.
And there the matter has sat.
For three long years.
State police officials here and in Richmond say their investigation ended long ago, and the report was turned over to White.
But White, a seasoned prosecutor and former colleague of Maddox’s in the office of former Commonwealth’s Attorney Bill Petty, has said nothing publicly about the matter.
Neither she nor the Amherst sheriff’s department has had any comment, claiming an “ongoing” investigation precludes them from doing so.
Even though state police say they finished long ago.
Nothing about the circumstances surrounding Taylor’s death. Nothing about whether any of the five deputies will face criminal charges. Nothing to anyone at all. For almost three years.
Lynchburg attorney Aurelia Langhorne has filed a $15 million suit on behalf of Melva Taylor Davis, Taylor’s mother, arguing that his federal civil rights were violated and that local law enforcement officials tried to cover up the circumstances surrounding the death.
Federal Judge Norman Moon, in a January 2008 hearing, quizzed an attorney for the deputies as to why Taylor was maced, hit with a baton, thrown face down to the ground and hogtied when police reports said he immediately dropped to his knees in compliance with deputies’ initial orders. “If the person is such that he’s easily controlled by five deputies, you don’t get to throw him to the ground,” Moon said Jan. 4 in a pre-trial hearing. (A week-long trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 15 in federal court.)
When Clarence Beard died in the custody of Lynchburg police in September 2006, the events that followed his death were quite different. An internal investigation was quickly undertaken. The state police were immediately called in. Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Doucette was out front in a hurry with a detailed report, taking questions from the public and actually answering them.
The public is due an explanation in this matter, if for no other reason than that for almost three years, no one has said a word.
A mother has lost her son. Residents of Amherst County have a sheriff’s department under a cloud with allegations of civil-rights violations and a cover-up swirling around it.
For the good of everyone, it’s time for this matter to end.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on April 23, 2008 at 3:31 pm
That’s it for me (m.paul). Five times you have refused to answer a direct question. I’m done with you. And please stop with the “jury pool” nonsense. It’s fine to call him a “suspicious black man” lurking in the neighborhood. Great to inform the world he was a “drug abuser”. No chance of tainting the white jury pool there, right. You are a defense atturney by mistake. Crawl over to the Prosecutors office and ask if you can shine some shoes. It is OBVIOUSLY, where you will feel most at home. Anybody who hires you deserves what they get.
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Posted by ( poet ) on April 23, 2008 at 1:35 pm
MPV, one other thing that sends chills down my spine. I’m in Amherst county a lot. Mostly at night, as I work nights being on the road. My son lives in Amherst county. Either one of us could break down at night and seek help by trying to find a phone. Now, so far, all we know is that was all that was needed for this black man to die at the hands of the sheriff’s dept.
It is absolutely chilling to think that those deputies, who thought so little of one black man’s life, are still out there. What reason would I have to think they would have any more respect for my life or my son’s life? Oh sure one can say this doesn’t happen everyday, that’s a lot of comfort to the black citizens of Amherst county. It doesn’t happen often, but watch out, because when it does happen, we can get away with it.
Is there any wonder why there is such little trust of the police and justice system in the black community?
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Posted by ( poet ) on April 23, 2008 at 1:01 pm
“First of all, it is not really possible to compare the investigation of a specific death to a hypothetical situation. “
Come on now MVP, that’s quite an obvious dodge. You know exacty what would happen if 5 black men killed a white man, much lees a deputy.
I applaud what you do on a daily basis, but what you’re doing in this forum is exactly what we’re complaining about.
You are giving us all the classic excuses for the non action of the DA’s office. Do you think we haven’t heard all this before? Since when is the DA’s office and sheriff’s office not accountable to the public?
After all the time that has passed, the silence with no resolution in sight, tell me why we citizens are wrong to demand action from our public officials.
It is simply not enough for Ms White to do as little as she can get by with. A man is dead at the hands of those that should be held to a higher standard. A man whose only crime was to break down in Amherst county and in need of using the phone. Now if that’s not true, then why can’t Ms White say that. Since she chooses to remain silent, why shouldn’t she be asked the same question that she, as a prosecutor, would ask any other citizen under suspicion--what are you hiding? Now don’t tell me that doesn’t happen, because you see her and the police do it all the time.
The public has every right to demand answers from Ms White. If she refuses to be responsive to the public, then we have every right to demand that her office be investigated.
A man is dead. We don’t need to be protected from the truth, and this certainly is not some game of hide and seek.
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Posted by ( m.paul.valois ) on April 23, 2008 at 11:29 am
Cosmo, you are not aknowledging the plain facts.
It would be UNETHICAL and IMPROPER for Ms. White to make a public release of information that could taint a jury pool. Ms. White could be disciplined, or potetially even lose her license, for doing so.
As for your accusation that Ms. White has not said anything to the victim’s family or to the press, you are dead, dead wrong. As I have posted repeatedly, the truth of the matter is that Ms. White voluntarily gave complete and unfettered access of her file to the attorney representing Mr. Taylor’s mother. Ms. White also gave a detailed reply to the News & Advance’s FOIA request.
I think that it is important to deal with the facts the way they are.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on April 23, 2008 at 9:19 am
(m.paul) writes: “First of all, it is not really possible to compare the investigation”.. Who asked you to? Now, for the 4th time, you have avoided the question. You claim..."She is NOT required to release a public report- in FACT she is only required to report to Amherst (which she has done).” Required is an interesting word. It’s what, almost three years now? A man is dead and according to you the Legal representative of Amherst County is not “required” to say anything to the man’s family or the community at large. You know (m.paul) when you jump out of an aeroplane you are nor “required” to pull the cord on the parachute either. Only, if you want to save your behind. Delayed justice isn’t justice. The appearance of impropriety is to be avoided as vehemently as impropriety itself. Any of those ring a bell?
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Posted by ( m.paul.valois ) on April 23, 2008 at 7:12 am
Cosmo asks “what if this homicide involved 5 black men and a dead white deputy”?
First of all, it is not really possible to compare the investigation of a specific death to a hypothetical situation.
However, to address the issue, I battle against racism nearly every day. If I had a quarter for every young black man I’ve defended who was pulled over for a dangling air freshener or a crack on a windshield or some other pretense, I’d be a wealthy man. I know that profiling is real.
Secondly, yes cops stick together. I can’t blame them for this mentality (I would feel the same way if I were putting my life on the line every day) but it does make problems. A very few of these cops take it too far. I have personally seen a few of them lie on the witness stand to stick up for their colleagues.
However, Ms. White is doing her job. She is NOT required to release a public report- in FACT she is only required to report to Amherst (which she has done). To release a public report in the middle of a civil trial would be improper in that it would taint a jury pool- potentially denying Mr. Taylor’s mother a fair trial. I honestly don’t understand why people can’t grasp this. Ms. White has given Mr. Taylor’s mother’s attorney complete access to the files in order to assist her in a civil prosecution. Ms. White has responded to the News & Advance’s FOIA request (though you wouldn’t know this from the editorial). In short, she has done EXACTLY what she was supposed to do.
Are people right to be upset that no police officers have been prosecuted? Perhaps, but we don’t know. I certainly would like to know more myself. But Ms. White has done her job. I just don’t understand why this newspaper expects Ms. White to open her file to the public. NO prosecutors do this.
We do know that everyone who has looked at the case has decided that criminal charges aren’t warranted. The state police investigated the death and didn’t bring any charges. The Feds haven’t brought any criminal charges.
Why? I don’t know. Is this death the result of racism, or a civil rights violation? Perhaps, but if so, then why didn’t the Feds take over the case?
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered, but to expect Ms. White to comment publicly at this point is just absurd.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on April 22, 2008 at 8:06 pm
The time you spend in court (m.paul) is utterly irrelevent. It speaks nothing of your effectiveness as an advocate. But this does..."She gave Mr. Taylor’s mother’s attorney complete and unfettered access to the files”.. As apposed to what? Keeping information gathered at public expense a SECRET for YEARS? That isn’t an example of “ethical prosecutor whose professionalism is beyond reproach”. That’s an example of doing what you had no choice but to do. Why do you avoid my question? “Again I ask you, if this homicide involved 5 black men and a dead white deputy.... would we still be waiting? Or, would we be hearing demands for rapid executions?” Better yet, why are you not asking yourself that question. I think I know the answer. It’s that old, “Never ask a witness a question you don’t already know the answer to.”
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Posted by ( m.paul.valois ) on April 22, 2008 at 4:54 pm
This is a racially charged case. I understand that.
But to claim that I am “hopelessly out of touch” with the legal system is just silly. I am a half-time assistant public defender in Halifax and I maintain a private practice in Lynchburg. I probably spend as much time in court as just about any attorney in Southside Virginia.
I’m not saying that people aren’t justified in being upset. I’m just saying that Kim White is an ethcial prosecutor whose professionalism is beyond reproach. She gave Mr. Taylor’s mother’s attorney complete and unfettered access to the files and she provided a detailed response to the News and Advance’s FOIA request on January 24th.
The News and Advance isn’t telling the whole story here. Given the racially-charged nature of the case, this iust inexcusably sloppy journalism.
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Posted by ( troyywr ) on April 22, 2008 at 12:23 pm
THE TIMELINE IS NOT THE ISSUE!.....ANY AMOUNT OF TIME THAT A SON LIES IN THE COLD EARTH AND A MOTHER SITS WAITING FOR JUSTICE IS A TRAVESTY!!! 1 YEAR NO ANSWERS OR CHARGES ARE YOU SERIOUS???? I SMELL A MODERN DAY LYNCHING!!! AMHERSTY COUNTY SPEAK UP YOUR VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD BLACK AND WHITE ,BROWN,YELLOW!!!!!!
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on April 22, 2008 at 12:22 pm
(m.paul) It hurts me to even post this because I almost always find myself in agreement with you, but, I am no stranger to the Legal System. One of my CHILDREN is a Federal Habeas expert that lectures and practices all over the country, besides teaching at a Ivy League Law School. Anyone who calls themselves a “Defense Attorney” and doesn’t KNOW that the Legal System does NOT deal equally with Blacks and Whites, ESPECIALLY in the South, is either covering shamelessly for a friend or hopelessly out of touch with reality. Perhaps both. Again I ask you, if this homicide involved 5 black men and a dead white deputy.... would we still be waiting? Or, would we be hearing demands for rapid executions?
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