DA Mulroy Releases Statement in Response to Sheriff Bonner's Press Conference Regarding Gershun Freeman Case

“I endorsed Van Turner for Mayor before Mr. Freeman died in the Shelby County Jail and before Sheriff Bonner declared his candidacy. To keep politics out of the case, I recused myself and requested another DA be appointed, a common practice among DAs which is not at all unusual. The DA Conference, not me, appointed Glenn Funk. I've had no involvement at all in the case since last year, and played no role in the decision to indict.

The release of the video was per the regular practice of DA Funk and not at all unusual. I haven't stated I disagree with it. Sheriff Bonner was legally able to release any and all of the videos in all jail death and officer-involved shooting cases. I favor such release in the name of transparency.

In recent jail death cases since the Freeman case, Sheriff Bonner initially refused to provide TBI or this office with videos, stating that we could view the video at his office but could not have a copy and that we had to go through his lawyer Allan Wade. This is not practical; we need a copy of the video to examine ourselves. As a result, I had to get the TBI to compel production of the videos.

I can't comment on the details of the Freeman case, both because it is an ongoing case and because I am not involved in it since it is DA Funk's case and not ours. “

-Steve Mulroy, Shelby County DA