Justice Dept.: Le'Keian Woods arrest review done; no 'prosecutable violation' of rights

Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
Updated ·3 min read
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This is the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo following the Sept. 29 arrest of Le'Keian Woods on multiple charges.
This is the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo following the Sept. 29 arrest of Le'Keian Woods on multiple charges.

The U.S. Department of Justice has stopped reviewing the viral recorded arrest of Le’Keian Woods, whose injuries after running from a police traffic stop sparked demonstrations by police-reform advocates.

“Based on the known information, this incident does not give rise to a prosecutable violation of the federal civil rights laws,” James Felte Jr., chief of the criminal section of Justice’s civil rights division concluded Friday in a letter to Sheriff T.K. Waters. “As a result, we are closing our review of this matter.”

The department told Woods’ attorney last month the agency was “monitoring” the case and would welcome any information people offered about police conduct when Woods was arrested Sept. 29 on charges including drug trafficking.

Attorneys for Le'Keian Woods were joined by demonstrators outside the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as they called for a federal civil rights investigation in early October.
Attorneys for Le'Keian Woods were joined by demonstrators outside the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as they called for a federal civil rights investigation in early October.

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Woods was hospitalized with injuries that included swollen contusions to his face after a Sheriff’s Office gang unit carried out a traffic stop on a Southside street and he ran from the stopped truck. He was tasered as he ran and fell face-first onto pavement, then struggled as police tried to place both this hands in cuffs behind his back.

Police at the truck recovered a gun on another person but not on Woods, as well as stores of several types of drugs that lawyers for Woods said he was unaware of, being simply a passenger.

A bystander’s recording of Woods looking dazed and injured was seized on by critics of the Sheriff’s Office, but Waters said he thought officers acted properly and that video that went viral had been altered.

Woods attorney Harry Daniels requested a Justice Department civil rights investigation in early October and the call was supported by voices including the Legal Defense Fund, a national organzation rooted in the NAACP.

Daniels' office recently released the department's letter about "monitoring" and expressed encouragement that the agency was taking notice.

But Felte underscored the agency's lack of ongoing interest in Woods's arrest by telling Waters: "Please know that the Civil Rights Division's Special Litigation Section does not currently have an open investigation into this conduct or the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office."

Woods' attorneys followed that up late Friday with their own statement:

"On October 23, we received a letter from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) stating that they were monitoring the September 29 incident where Le’Keian Woods was beaten by officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office causing serious injuries including a closed head injury and ruptured kidney. That letter speaks for itself," the statement reads.

"While it is unfortunate that the DOJ’s Special Litigation Section has chosen to close its review so quickly despite the clear evidence before them, it is not surprising," the family's attorneys continued. "At the end of the day, that’s why we have the civil courts where a jury will ultimately decide justice."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Justice Dept. done reviewing Jacksonville police arrest in viral video