A ‘thorough’ job investigating Eimers’ death? Not yet, says CRB
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
The Key West Citizens Review Board (CRB) has voted unanimously to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to review the Charles Eimers case, saying it was “dissatisfied” with the results of four separate state and local investigations that cleared all police officers of any wrongdoing in Eimers’ death.
The CRB also voted on Dec. 17 to request that all “available documentation” on the case be turned over to the board, including videos and depositions recorded in connection with the civil suit Eimers’ family is filing against the city. The CRB’s attorney, Robert Cintron, will be contacting the DOJ before the end of the year to find out what information the federal investigative agency needs to make a decision on the request to review the case.
“What we want to know is if there is something they want from us specifically that would cause them to take action,” said Larry Beaver, CRB Executive Director.
CBR members hope to hear back from the DOJ by their next meeting on Jan. 26.
CRB members agreed a year ago, shortly after Eimers’ death on Thanksgiving 2013, to wait until other legal agencies had investigated the incident before rendering their own opinion. The CBR, an independent city board with the authority to review and/or investigate complaints involving Key West police officers, has watched while four separate reports were issued by the state Department of Law Enforcement, the Monroe County Medical Examiner, the Monroe County State Attorney and the Key West Police Internal Affairs Office. All the reports, including a grand jury investigation, found that police action during the routine traffic stop of Eimers and the subsequent slow-speed chase that ended with his arrest on South Beach did not contribute to his death.
Eimers stopped breathing after he was handcuffed face down in the sand. Police called paramedics when they realized he was not breathing, however, Eimers never regained consciousness. He was removed from life support at the Lower Keys Medical Center by his family a week later and he died shortly thereafter.
The county Medical Examiner ruled that Eimers died of a heart attack brought on by a poor health condition and he could have died at any time. But CRB members are not convinced, Beavers said.
“They felt like those four [investigating] entities did not do a thorough enough job, especially when the second video came out,” Beavers said.
A video shot on a bystander’s camera was used as evidence in all four investigations and the grand jury hearing. That video was taken from a distance and did not show Eimers once police descended on him at South Beach. However, a second, closer video shot on another witness’s telephone camera casts doubt on police testimony that Eimers resisted arrest, Beavers said. And it shows that his ear is bleeding and his face has sand on it, again contradicting some of the testimony given by police.
Attorneys representing the Eimers family in their civil suit against the city were able to find the witness who took the second video with one phone call. In written testimony by a police officer, the phone number of that witness was included in his report. But the officer said he had tried several times to contact the witness with no success.
“If the second video that shows Mr. Eimers falling to his knees with his hands up after he leaves his car had been found earlier, it might have made a difference. There are some inconsistencies there,” Beavers said, adding that the appearance of the second video after the officers were cleared “shows a lack of commitment on the part of those investigations and reports to do a thorough investigation.”
was no criminal wrongdoing and no excessive use of force,” Lee said in a statement emailed to Konk Life. Key West Police Chief Donni Lee said he “welcomed the scrutiny.”
“We are satisfied that the three investigations – by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a Grand Jury and our own internal affairs investigation – were fair and unbiased in their conclusions that there was no criminal wrongdoing and no excessive use of force,” Lee said in a statement emailed to Konk Life.
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If you are one of the many people not quite convinced by Chief Lee and feel more scrutiny is needed to get to the bottom of Mr, Eimers’ death on South Beach Key West, join the march on this Sunday, Dec 28 at 4:00 starting at Truman Waterfront. We can support the police and still have accountability. Those principles are not mutually exclusive. We should not have to fear the people that we pay to protect and serve our community.