A Havana man is planning to sue the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Walt McNeil following a March 2020 incident in which he was handcuffed and detained in a deputy’s car after refusing to show his identification.
In a formal notice of intent dated Feb. 10, James Jackson says he plans to sue the department and sheriff for negligence, negligent hiring, false arrest, and violating his civil rights.
A request for comment from Jackson, 56, and his attorney, Marie Mattox of Tallahassee, is pending. A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson did not return a call.
Jackson was at a McDonald’s on Mahan Drive when he got into an argument with an employee over “customer service,” which never escalated to a physical fight, the notice of intent said.
Responding Deputy Michael Gilley sat with Jackson at a table before asking for his identification. Jackson refused to provide it.
Gilley asked for his ID again and when Jackson didn’t turn it over, he bent him backward over a table, handcuffed him and dragged him out to his patrol car, where he sat for 30 minutes, Jackson alleged.
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Gilley, hired by LCSO in late 2003, released him after 30 minutes before he “solicited the employee to issue a trespass warning against (Jackson),” according to the notice.
Jackson immediately lodged a complaint, sparking an internal affairs investigation that resulted in a written reprimand against Gilley.
Internal affairs investigation finds Gilley wrongfully detained Jackson
After reviewing body-camera footage, conducting witness interviews and doing an interview with Gilley, internal affairs investigators determined Gilley “did not establish reasonable suspicion to detain Jackson,” according to a copy of the investigation findings.
Investigators noted Jackson “was not belligerent when he spoke to Gilley.”
In Gilley’s initial report on the incident, he did not mention handcuffing Jackson or holding him in his patrol car for half an hour.
“I took 2 digital photos of James and handed him back his license,” Gilley wrote, omitting the detainment. “James left the property without incident.”
In a September 2020 interview with investigators, Gilley dodged questions until he eventually said, “Looking at it, yes, I could have handled the situation a little different.”
“Deputy Gilley believed because he was conducting an investigation, Jackson was required to provide identification upon request,” an investigator wrote in a copy of the findings. “Deputy Gilley confirmed at the conclusion of the investigation, Jackson did not commit a crime.”
Investigators did not punish Gilley for leaving out critical information in his field narrative of the incident.
Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.
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