Shelby County jailers plead 'not guilty' in first court date since Gershun Freeman death

Six of the nine Shelby County corrections officers who were indicted in connection to the death of Gershun Freeman pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault and second-degree murder Friday morning.

The other three corrections officers did not enter a plea during Friday's arraignment since they did not have attorneys to represent them.

The indictments were first announced on Sept. 20 by Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who oversees the jail and its corrections officers. Seven deputies — Jeffrey Gibson, Anthony Howell, Damian Cooper, Ebonee Davis, Lareko Elliot, Chelsea Duckett and Charles Gatewood — face a count of aggravated assault resulting in the death of another. The two other deputies — Stevon Jones and Courtney Parham — face second-degree murder and aggravated assault while acting in concert with others charges.

The corrections officers charged with aggravated assault resulting in the death of another face up to 30 years in prison if they are convicted, and the deputies charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault while acting in concert with others face up to life in prison if convicted.

Each of the corrections officers was arraigned separately. Cooper, Elliot and Howell did not have attorneys Friday but said they would be able to hire one by the next court date on Dec. 1.

It was also the first time Freeman's parents, George Burks and Kimberly Freeman, saw each of the corrections officers in a courtroom setting.

Carlissa Shaw is representing Gatewood, one of the corrections officers charged with aggravated assault resulting in the death of another, and said her office has already filed a motion for discovery. She also said she believes the evidence she views will result in her client being acquitted.

"We don't try cases in the court of public opinion, these are actual lives," Shaw told reporters after the arraignment. "My client is a father. He is a husband. He's a lifelong Memphian who has done well in his community. We want to know the facts. We want to see the medical examiner's report, we want to see the TBI investigation. We want to know what happened, and I believe at the end of this my client will be found not guilty. We really want people to understand that just because somebody is charged with a crime does not mean they actually committed one."

Shaw also believes that the security footage of the incident released by Davidson County District Attorney Glen Funk in March "speaks for itself and my client's actions purport to what was supposed to be done in that situation."

Jake Brown, an attorney representing Freeman's family alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump in a federal civil lawsuit that was filed in April, said they do not "begrudge the system or the officers" for having their day in court, but said that Freeman should have received his day in court as well.

"He didn't get it," Brown said outside the courtroom Friday.

Brown also said he sees a parallel between the Tyre Nichols criminal case and this one, saying that without video being available, charges likely never would have been filed against the officers in either case.

More: 52 deaths since 2016: Why Shelby County Jail's mortality rates have been rising in recent years

"Had this not been caught on video, had nothing been recording, had the video disappeared, and did the [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation] not gotten on this as quickly as they did, perhaps, I don't think we'd be here," he said. "Because young men who are arrested by the police are denied credibility in the public and from a lot of individuals in law enforcement."

Brown said he does not believe the Freeman civil case will be placed on hold since none of the corrections officers are named as defendants in it.

What the video footage shows

The security footage released in March showed officers handing out boxed meals to inmates, opening their cell doors to hand them the boxes. When the officers reached Freeman's cell, he ran out and appeared to grab at officers. The Shelby County Sheriff's Office said Freeman bit one of the corrections officers when he ran out.

Officers wrestle the 33-year-old man to the ground and begin to punch and kick Freeman, who is just out of the frame of the camera.

He gets up and more officers arrive, eventually totaling 10 officers in the cell block attempting to restrain Freeman. One officer can be seen hitting Freeman with what appeared to be a canister of pepper spray.

Freeman then begins running through various hallways, with corrections officers being grabbed and others being pulled away from Freeman by other officers.

The camera ultimately shifts to Freeman running up escalators with three jail staffers following him. The next angle showed an officer pushing Freeman against a wall, and Freeman appeared to swing at him.

Two more arrived and held Freeman to the ground, trying to handcuff him after a few punches. More officers arrive and handcuff Freeman, who is face down on the ground.

When Freeman began to move, one officer appeared to place his knee on Freeman's upper back. The officer kept his knee there for almost six minutes before Freeman was lifted up, and a dark red substance was left on the floor where his body was.

Freeman's autopsy said he collapsed after a "physical altercation with corrections officers." According to the report, he was restrained, had a cardiac arrest and was given CPR before being pronounced dead.

More: Gershun Freeman's family, attorneys 'thanking God' for indictments, Ben Crump says

The cause of death was listed as an exacerbation of a heart disease due to the physical altercation and being subdued by the officers. His manner of death was listed as homicide, although that "is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent," the autopsy said.

When the indictments were announced by Bonner, he said that "no actions by any Shelby County Sheriff's Office employee caused Mr. Freeman's death. The medical examiner plainly said that he died from a pre-existing heart condition."

Freeman also had a history of psychosis, which was listed as a possible contributory cause of his death in the autopsy report. He was also healing from a stab wound in his back at the time of his death.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County jailers plead 'not guilty' in Gershun Freeman death case