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VERIFY: No, cases will not be reopened automatically even if a JSO officer is under internal investigation

Jacksonville police Sgt. Douglas Howell came under fire this week for alleged racist social media posts, some people are wondering what happens to his case load.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Community leaders are calling for action after tweets and retweets from Jacksonville Sheriff's Sgt. Douglas Howell revealed potentially racist and biased views about Black people and the LGBTQ community.

THE QUESTION

Will cases that Sgt. Howell are involved in be reopened?

THE SOURCES

Former Jacksonville Officer Mark Baughman and defense attorney Melinda Patterson who handles a lot of gang-related cases.

THE ANSWER

The answer is no, cases won’t be automatically re-examined.

WHAT WE FOUND

Baughman says while the answer is no that doesn’t mean it doesn't warrant an internal investigation.

“I don’t necessarily think that any investigation would be reopen the only time when that generally happens with prosecutors and agencies is when a witness or in this case an officer may have lied or there’s some issue of truthfulness in this case what was posted on social media by Howell doesn’t really point to any veracity or untruthfulness," said Baughman. 

A post on a popular Duval County Reddit page that’s getting a lot of attention claims that Tyler Jackson, a local rapper who performs under the name Y&R Mookey, will be getting out of jail because he was arrested by Sgt. Howell. The post says when officers are investigated for wrongdoing all their cases are reevaluated.

Credit: Reddit screen shot
A post on Reddit claims that Tyler Jackson, aka Y&R Mookey, will be released from jail since the officer who arrested him is under investigation for alleged racist social media posts.

Jackson's attorney Melinda Patterson says that this particular case would not be reopened and here’s why.

“His case is not one of the ones where this was the only issue or the only piece of evidence in his case. If the entire case was based on Howell's testimony or credibility alone the internal investigation may have a little bit more weight but when there’s a case that has other factors present there would have to be more than just this issue alone to reopen the case," said Patterson.

It’s important to note that Howell's tweets are currently the subject of an internal investigation, and it is possible the outcome could influence whether Howell’s cases get a second look.

Credit: Twitter
Sgt. Doug Howell locked his twitter account after reports about its problematic content.
Credit: Murda Twinz music video
Tyler Jackson, aka Y&R Mookey, (left) Tyler Simmon, aka Y&R Slugga Tee (right) a screen shot of them in their viral music video Murda Twinz.

YOUTUBE EMBED:  Does Y&R Mookey get new trial after officer who arrested him gets investigated for racist tweets?

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