Judge releases teen’s arrest video to Durham council. Will the city make it public?
A judge on Wednesday allowed the release of body-camera footage showing the arrest of a teen who says a Durham police officer used excessive force and then framed him for assault after the officer injured his shoulder.
John Roseboro, an attorney for the city of Durham, asked Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson to release the video to the Durham City Council. Under the request approved by the judge, the City Council would have the option to release it to public.
The City Council will meet in closed session July 23, its next scheduled meeting, and will review the footage, Mayor Steve Schewel said after Wednesday’s hearing.
“My expectation is the council will vote to release it to the public at that time,” he said. “And that is certainly what I will be advocating for.”
In an interview Tuesday, Schewel said he had asked the city attorney earlier this month to petition to have the footage released.
“I think it is really important that the public be able to see it, and the City Council as well,” he said. “This is one thing where transparency is essential.”
North Carolina law limits public access to body camera recordings, requiring those who want video released to petition a Superior Court judge, The News & Observer has reported.
Meanwhile, an attorney for the teen, Tony Scott, had asked Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry to investigate the alleged violations of the Hillside High School student’s rights by the Durham Police Department.
“Mr. Scott Jr. and his family believe that, given the enormity of the violation of his rights, and the lack of a response to it, an outside investigation is needed. We applaud the decision of the District Attorney to rightly dismiss the charges against Mr. Scott Jr. and trust that Ms. Deberry, with her reputation as a reformer, will proceed fairly in this matter,” states the June 30 letter from Scott’s civil rights attorney, Sharika Robinson.
Scott was initially charged with assault inflicting serious bodily injury, and assault on a law enforcement officer.
The charges were dismissed by a prosecutor April 19, 2019, after she watched the convenience-store video of the incident, the lawsuit states.
Deberry campaigned on prioritizing violent crime and fighting bias through reforms such as cash-less bail for certain offenses. She pledged to hold officers accountable for misdeeds.
The letter also asks her to file criminal charges against the officer, Michael McGlasson, 27, a Durham officer since 2016.
“As well as an investigation into the Department itself for violations of his (Scott’s) rights against unreasonable search and seizure, the excessive use of force by Officer Michael McGlasson, the lack of an investigation into the fraudulent charges brought against Mr. Scott when they occurred and the systemic cover up that led to Mr. Scott Jr., a minor, being falsely charged with serious felonies including assault on a police officer,” it states.
As of Monday, Deberry hadn’t responded to the letter, Robinson said.
Sarah Willets, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office said she couldn’t comment on the Scott case.
The Police Department also has declined to comment. The N&O asked to interview McGlasson but got no response.
The civil rights lawsuit
On June 19, Scott and his father filed a federal civil rights lawsuit calling the Jan. 23, 2019, incident a “modern day lynching” and seeking to hold the officer, Police Department and city accountable for creating an environment that allowed the disparate treatment of Black children without consequence, The N&O reported.
The letter to the DA quotes a Police Department report stating if an employee is accused of breaking the law, both internal and criminal investigations follow. All criminal investigations are reviewed by the DA, the report states.
Scott said he walked to a convenience store during his school lunch hour in January 2019.
McGlasson walked up to Scott in the store and said he was going to search him, the teen said. Scott refused and the officer grabbed him and threw him on the counter, the lawsuit states.
Scott ran, hid in an SUV while dogs searched the neighborhood and later turned himself in at the jail.
On that day, a warrant was sworn out stating the teen had assaulted McGlasson, causing him to dislocate his shoulder, miss several days of work and be referred to a surgeon for treatment.
At the time of the incident, the officer was investigating a narcotics complaint, the warrant stated.
Living in dread
McGlasson broke the law after he was hurt using excessive force and assaulting the teen, the letter states. The officer and Police Department then tried to cover it up in a series of events that led to falsifying police reports that led to an unlawful arrest, it states.
“In the intervening three-and-a-half months, Mr. Scott Jr. had lived in dread of this case that could change the course of his entire life when he knew he had done nothing wrong. DPD could have come forward with evidence that exonerated Mr. Scott Jr. at any time, but chose not to, instead giving him up for prosecution,” the letter states.
The letter notes it is a Class 2 misdemeanor to file a false police report.
“McGlasson is not exempt from the law because of his employment relationship with DPD. If anything, Officer McGlasson is held to a higher standard and his fabrication of charges against Tony Scott Jr. calls into question whether he has the ethical morals and character to perform the duties of a police officer,” the letter states.
After Scott’s father filed a complaint after the case was dismissed, the Police Department sustained the allegations of warrantless search and seizure, meaning evidence supported the allegations, states an Oct. 31 letter from the Police Department to Scott’s father.
McGlasson, who received a 5% merit increase in August 2019, was suspended Oct. 28, 2019, according to public information provided by the department that didn’t say how long he was suspended or why.
Scott’s father, Tony Scott, said McGlasson should be fired.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
