Man parts with famed civil rights lawyer
Galveston defendant who was led by rope disavows protest march, new attorney says
A Galveston man whose arrest by two mounted police officers attracted national attention has cut ties with a prominent attorney who organized a civil rights march on his behalf last weekend.
Donald Neely, a mentally ill man who was living on the streets of Galveston, was arrested in August for allegedly trespassing by two mounted Galveston officers who clipped a rope line to his handcuffs and led him for several blocks in public view — evoking comparisons to the slavery era and drawing national outrage. Neely is black and the officers are white.
Days after the arrest, Ben Crump, a nationally known attorney, held a news conference in Galveston demanding the city release body camera footage of the incident within 30 days. Crump threatened legal action and a civil rights march on “the same streets that you dragged Donald Neely down by rope” if the request was not honored.
The march took place Sunday in Galveston and included more than 200 protesters, many of whom were bused in from Houston. They called for a public apology for Neely. Neither Neely nor his family members attended the protest.
An email sent by Houston attorney Julie Ketterman to Galveston’s city attorneys Tuesday explained that she would be representing Neely “in all aspects of the incident with the (Galveston Police Department),” and requested that the city cease all communication with Crump and his co-counsel, Jeff Daniel Clark. The Houston Chronicle obtained a copy of the email
“Donald Neely did not authorize, approve of or participate in the events on Sunday,” Ketterman wrote, adding the protest was organized “with motives that would not, and do not, benefit Donald.”
Crump did not respond to a request for comment. He represented Trayvon Martin’s family after the teen was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in 2012. Crump has represented other families whose children were killed in fatal altercations with white police officers that drew national attention, including Mike Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Mo., and 12year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland.
Neely’s relatives could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Melissa Morris, a Houston attorney who had been representing Neely in his criminal case, said Ketterman informed her that she would be filing a motion to substitute as his attorney. Morris said she was not given a reason for the change.
Neely has a hearing for his trespassing charge scheduled for Oct. 24, according to court records. His family has said he is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was living on the streets of Galveston for years until shortly after his arrest.
Morris previously told the Chronicle the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office had discussed making Neely the “flagship” case for a future mental health court, with the intention of keeping him out of the criminal justice system.
Neely, who has a record of misdemeanor and felony infractions dating to 1994, is an example of what mental health advocates refer to as a “frequent flier” — a person who has repeated contacts with police due to mental illness.
It remains to be seen whether the city of Galveston will release the body camera footage of Neely’s arrest. City officials had requested a third-party investigation of the officers’ actions, a criminal probe by the Texas Rangers, as well as an administrative review of department polices by the Galveston County Sheriff ’s Office
The Rangers completed their investigation into the arrest and conferred with the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office. The district attorney determined that “there was nothing that warranted a criminal investigation.”