Jonesboro, Arkansas police released two documents Wednesday that offer significant new details in the case of Chavis Carter — the 21-year-old Mississippi man who police say shot himself to death in the back of a patrol car where he had been detained, in handcuffs — by officers. But the documents, a lengthy press release and a memo from the director of the Arkansas State Crime Lab, which performed the autopsy on Carter following the July 28 incident, raise new questions about the incident, which has been ruled a suicide by the Arkansas medical examiner.
Why didn’t the crime lab conduct gunshot residue tests on Carter’s hands?
The autopsy report stated that Carter was brought to the medical examiner’s office with his hands “bagged,” and Dr. Michael Baden, a noted forensic expert who testified as an expert witness during the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995, told theGrio that such a test would be critical in determining whether the coroner’s ruling — that Carter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound — is credible. But Arkansas officials performed no such test on Carter, even though Jonesboro Police Chief Michael Yates reportedly requested one.
The Crime Lab memo, which is dated March 20, 2001 and is procedural, does not relate to the Carter case specifically. But, it states that gunshot residue is “easily lost,” especially if not collected right away, and that in any case, its presence or absence doesn’t always indicate whether the subject fired the weapon or was merely in the presence of someone who did. For that matter, the memo states that the Arkansas State Crime Lab only analyzes gunshot residue results from shooting suspects, not from “victims of homicides or suicides.”
Why did the second officer’s dashcam audio malfunction, and are there gaps in the recording?
The dashcam video released by Jonesboro police of the night Carter and two other men were detained by police contains gaps, particularly in the audio portion of the footage from the second responding officer, Officer Marsh. The new memo states that Marsh’s audio malfunctioned while he searched Carter for weapons for the second time, and that “Officer Marsh can be heard conversing with Carter about having anything in his shoes and just previous to this he can be heard conversing with the unknown female who identified herself as Carter’s aunt.”
The report continues:
Fortunately, and due in part to Baggett’s’ proximity to Marsh, Carter, and the “aunt,” the conversation is picked up on Baggett’s video/audio during this malfunction. Soon after this Baggett and Marsh are observed on the video/audio in front of Baggett’s vehicle. We presume that this is the point in time where the weapon was discharged in the rear of the police vehicle and due to the malfunction of Marsh’s video/audio this explains the absence of a gunshot or noise on the recordings. [Emphasis added]
Were there witnesses to the actual gunshot?
The police report states that they make the presumption that the audio on Officer Marsh’s dashcam video cuts out just before the gunshot, “after significant review of the witness statements and audio/video files. We also have compared these audio/video files to the 911 tapes to establish an essentially unbroken time line.” Who were those witnesses? Was it the “aunt”? Or the other two young men who were the driver and a fellow passenger in the car with Carter when they were stopped by police? Or were there other bystander witnesses to the event?
Do the “blood spatter” and cuff marks on Carter’s risk support the ruling of death by suicide?
The report states that:
High velocity blood spatter was present on Carter’s right hand indicating that his hand was in very close proximity to the contact wound in his right temple area. High velocity blood spatter was also present on the rear passenger door of the patrol unit where he was discovered as well as the fire arm that forensics determined was used to cause Carter’s fatal wound. These facts and circumstances are consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The witness statements of the officers and bystanders all stated the patrol car doors and windows were closed and the officers were not near the car until Carter was discovered. This virtually eliminates any possibility that the fatal wound was caused by any weapon other than the one recovered in the rear of the vehicle and that its discharge was caused by Carter.
It also states that autopsy photos of Carter’s hands show wrist markings that match those left on several police officers who participated in a re-enactment of the shooting, which was videotaped and released to the media that it was possible to shoot oneself in the head while handcuffed. The markings were the same, the police report claims, even though photos of the volunteers’ wrists were taken right away, while those of Carter’s wrists were taken hours after he died.
Next: Are police offering a theory of a suicide motive?
Are police implying that Carter killed himself because he was caught with video of a crime involving minors, along with a stolen gun?
That certainly seems to be the case. The police report goes into detail about what they say was found on Carter’s phone: several text messages, which they say indicate he was in the middle of a drug deal at the time of his detention by police, and that his text messages to a friend indicate that he was also “scared” once caught. The police memo also states that a video found on Carter’s cellphone “shows an African–American male (adult) smoking marijuana with two juveniles (approximately 10 years of age).” Police say they “located one of the juveniles and the adult male. The adult male is Brandon Renald Baker who is incarcerated in the Greene County jail on an aggravated burglary charge.” It continues:
On August 21, 2012 an audio interview was conducted with Baker who advised that he was the male in the video and that Chavis Carter was the person making the video on his (Carter’s) phone. One of the juveniles also identified Carter as the person making the video. Baker also stated that he knew that Carter had a small black .380 handgun consistent with that used in Carter’s death. Baker also stated that Carter had purchased the gun from a woman or individual in Jonesboro who was having domestic issues. Coincidentally, the gun was reported stolen in Jonesboro and the person who reported it stolen stated that he thought it was taken during his wife/girlfriend’s family gathering and this person has pending domestic charges against him. Baker also admitted sending Carter a text message requesting that Carter bring him the/a gun shortly before his encounter with the police.
This (text) occurred at approximately 9:30 pm on the night of Carters death. He was contacted by the police at approximately 10:00pm. Baker also stated that Carter was engaging in a drug deal for 4 ounces of marijuana when he was contacted by police (which is supported by the text messages between Baker and Carter).
What did police tell his girlfriend just before his death, and does it support the notion that he killed himself?
Police say that in an interview with Carter’s girlfriend “as recently as today,” she “relayed to the primary investigator that Carter called her from the rear of the police car and told her that he loved her and that he had a gun on him (in the rear of the police car) and he was scared. This portion of the investigation continues.”
How did Officer Marsh miss a “hidden gun?”
The report states that “there appears to be no doubt that Officer Marsh missed the gun during the initial pat down of Carter,” and it explains the misstep as being the result of the officers not knowing whether they planned to arrest Carter for the “small amount of marijuana discovered on his person as his wanted status and identity had not been determined.” The report states that Marsh was trying to “balance the intrusiveness of the search with the unknown facts and circumstances at the time,” and that they believe Carter hid the gun in the back of the patrol car the first time he was initially patted down and placed in the rear of the vehicle, un-handcuffed, and police tried to determine his identity (he initially gave them a false name, according to the police report.)
The report, which states that it is “merely a brief, preliminary investigative narrative,” concludes that “the evidence and witness statements support that Carter committed suicide given the press contact wound, the blood evidence and the witness statements. Witness statements and text messaging support the fact that he possessed the weapon before and during his encounter with the police and tend to offer some narrative as to what activity he was engaged in at the time of his contact with the police as well as the origin of the weapon.”
Despite the suicide ruling, the case remains under investigation, by Jonesboro police, in coordination with the FBI.
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