A review board ruled Thursday that the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office acted appropriately when firing two deputies accused of using excessive force on a jail inmate.
The two former deputies challenged the ruling, hoping to get their jobs back.
Last May, the mother of an inmate at the Seminole County jail filed a complaint accusing two deputies of excessive force against her son, Enrique Chapman. The alleged incident happened May 17 at the jail when the deputies were questioning Chapman about a letter he wrote directly to a deputy.
After originally clearing the deputies involved of any wrongdoing, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office later fired James Llewellyn and William Zayas. The firings came after another deputy, Samantha Swanson, changed her original story and said she saw the two deputies slap and hit the inmate.
Swanson is still a deputy with the sheriff’s office. She has now filed a complaint with FDLE and the sheriff’s office, and claims she was pressured by Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma to make her recant statements in the case. Swanson testified in Thursday’s hearing and was asked about a one-on-one meeting with Lemma.
“He leaned forward and said ‘I want you to tell me about the unprofessional acts that happened in that room.’ He told me I could lose my pension, and he would make sure I wasn’t hired anywhere else in the state of Florida,” said Swanson.
Chief Deputy Lemma testified that Swanson willingly offered the new information about what happened at the jail.
“I did not say that, and she and I both know I don’t have the power to do that,” Lemma said.
The Civil Service Review Board listened to a full day of testimony Thursday, even reviewing video of what went on inside the jail on the morning the alleged incident happened.
“If she felt it was wrong, or she was intimidated by that, she should have taken the appropriate action. And all the rest of this is testimony. I mean, we wouldn’t even be here if Swanson didn’t change her story, but the decisions were made based on the testimony we have,” said civil service review board member Brenda Carey.