Communities United Against Police Brutality CUAPB DENOUNCES CONTINUED WHITEWASH IN PHILANDER JENKINS CASEEMAIL NEWSLETTER December 19, 2003 ********************************************** The following is a press statement we released to the media yesterday: The Washington County Attorney�s Office announced today that it will not prosecute the Hennepin County Sheriff�s Department for the beating and sexual assault of Philander Jenkins. While the statement released by Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson alleges that evidence of sexual assault is inconclusive, we believe his decision is tainted by politics and continues the whitewash surrounding this case From the start, it is clear that the Hennepin County Sheriff�s Office has taken action to prevent Philander from receiving justice in his case. It is sad to see that Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson has joined the coverup. Philander was put into isolation immediately after the incident and was prevented from communicating with his family. He was not permitted access to a telephone and was not allowed paper, complaint forms or writing implements. Members of his legal team were harassed and repeatedly denied visitation. One member of his legal team was arrested as he stood outside of the Hennepin County jail. Despite repeated requests, Philander was denied access to jail staff nurses after the incident. After a barrage of phone calls to the jail from the community, Philander was finally taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for medical care several hours after the assault. Initial records released from Hennepin County Medical Center indicate a disposition of �sexual assault victim.� Despite repeated efforts by Philander and his family to receive his full medical records from that visit, Hennepin Cou nty Medical Center has withheld those records for over two months. Philander�s family and the community demanded that he receive an independent medical examination from a caregiver not on the Hennepin County payroll. A court order was sought from Judge Katherian Rowe. Even before Philander�s lawyer appeared in court, Sheriff�s Department staff had ex parte communications with Judge Rowe to influence the terms of the court order. Sheriffs took Philander to his examination but took him away from the facility before the time of his appointment. His doctor arrived to find Philander gone. Judge Rowe refused to issue another court order for the exam, despite these actions by the Hennepin County Sheriff�s Office. Considering this history, we are very wary about a number of gaps in the Washington County Attorney�s Office statement: * Contemporaneous statements from two inmates who saw Deputies enter Philander�s cell and described hearing the beating and sexual assault, including hearing Philander tell the Sheriff�s Deputies to "stop pulling down my pants" and "get your hands away from there." These statements were recorded on Hennepin County Sheriff�s Office "First Person Statement" Forms. * Information on blood or other analysis of kleenex tissues Philander used to stop anal bleeding after the attack. Philander had secreted the tissues into his jail jumpsuit and taken them to the Hennepin County Medical Center. Once there, he gave them to nurses, who put them into a plastic bag and sealed it. A chain of custody and test results for these tissues need to be produced. * Information on security videotapes of the area of Philander�s jail cell. These were noted in the witness statements. Were they preserved? Who has them? * Philander�s attorney saw him in the immediate aftermath of the assault.&nb sp; We have seen photographs of Philander�s injuries, including scrapes, bruises and gashes on his face. His attorney saw blood on his jail jumpsuit. None of this is discussed in the statement. * The statement indicates that a rectal swab showed "no semen." Philander never stated that the sexual assault involved penile penetration. He stated that he was assaulted with a type of solid object like a stick. * There was no indication on the report of any examination for anal tears or other trauma typical of anal sexual assault. We believe that if a Black man had been accused of the kind of sexual assault Philander Jenkins experienced, Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson would be only too happy to prosecute. However, since this assault happened at the hands of Hennepin County Sheriffs, Doug Johnson refuses to prosecute and, worse, actually shows bias against Philander Jenkins in his statement. We have concerns, too, about the BCA investigation of this case. As soon as the BCA announced that its investigation was complete, Philander�s attorney requested copies of the findings. Officers with the BCA told Philander�s attorney that no report was ever done on the case. This statement is laughable at best and certainly could not be truthful. Because of the controversial nature of this case and because of BCA ties to local law enforcement agencies including the Hennepin County Sheriff�s Office, this case should have been referred to a special prosecutor from the start. After all of the efforts to cover up this assault and prevent Philander Jenkins from receiving justice, we make the following demands: 1) Time to appoint a Special Prosecutor NOW! 2) All information from the BCA investigation must be released to the public, not just the selected tidbits chosen by Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson that fit his conclusion. 3) Most importantly, for his personal safety, PHILANDER JENKINS MUST BE MOVED TO ANOTHER JAIL. The lack of credible investigation and efforts to stonewall justice create a climate of serious doubt surrounding this case. Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson has chosen political expediency rather than truth, putting Philander Jenkins and other inmates at the Hennepin County Jail at risk. We will not rest until Philander Jenkins gets real justice! **Now that the Sheriff's Department has been given the green light to sexually assault inmates with impunity, and given what happened in court on Wednesday (see below) we are working with Philander's legal team to get him moved quickly to another jail. Very soon, we'll let you know what you can do to help. ___________________________________________________________ |
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