Thread by @WillCleveland13

We're live with the Singletary deposition. You can watch here:

Attorney Jon Getz is representing La'Ron Singletary. Andrew Celli, attorney empowered by City Council, is leading the independent probe.

"This is not a court proceeding," Councilman Mike Patterson reminds us all.

Reminder: Mayor Warren's deposition for this investigation last nine hours.

Attorney Michael Tallon is also representing Singletary.

Celli will question Singletary.

Singletary has now been sworn in.

Celli said, "This is not an adversarial deposition. It is a fact-finding deposition."

Singletary said, to prepare for today's testimony, he has done some preparations, including reviewing exhibits (provided by Celli's office) and documents.

He said he has not spoken to anyone other than his attorneys as he prepared for this deposition.

Singletary said he first became aware of officers' interactions with Prude at 7:25 a.m. March 23. He was informed by former Deputy Chief Joe Morabito via phone call.

"The individual was arrested and then that individual went unconscious," Singletary said.

He said Prude went unconscious during the mental health arrest. Morabito told Singletary, Prude's condition was "not good."

Morabito told Singletary RPD officers had physical contact with Prude at the time of his arrest.

Morabito told Singletary that Prude was on PCP.

Singletary contacted Mayor Warren based on the information Morabito gave him. "We were going to treat this as an in-custody death from the start," Singletary said.

Singletary spoke with Warren twice on March 23, including a previously called 1-on-1 via Zoom around 1:30 p.m.

The first call was to "give her an update as to what we're dealing with." He said it was preliminary information. He had not yet watched the body-worn camera footage.

The first call with Warren was around 8:30 a.m. March 23.

Singletary said he didn't have any written information about the death at that point. The call lasted "a couple of minutes."

Call included preliminary information about Prude being from Chicago and questions about the officers' conduct.

"It was a preliminary assessment," Singletary said.

Officers had restrained Prude, so I advised the mayor of that, Singletary said.

Said Prude was initially compliant and then at some point "officers went hands-on with Mr. Prude," and then at some point, he lost consciousness.

It was just Warren and Singletary on each call on March 23. By the time of the second call, Singletary had watched the BWC footage.

The second call lasted 45 minutes. The majority of the call was about Mr. Prude, Singletary said.

Celli now directing questions, specific ones, about the first phone call.

"Did you let her know Mr Prude was found outdoors, naked on a cold winter night?" Celli asked.

Singletary: Yes.

"I advised her that Mr. Prude was making irrational statements," Singletary said.

He added Mr. Prude was under mental health distress.

And that multiple officers had physical contact with Prude.

Unclear if SIngletary told Warren that officers had physical contact with Prude after he was in handcuffs. Singletary doesn't remember.

But Singletary said told the mayor about the spit sock on Mr. Prude's head, after he was already in handcuffs.

Stabilization, holding someone on the ground and preventing movement, Singletary said.

He didn't use the term "segmenting" in either call. "The mayor and I talked in plain language," Singletary said.

Segmenting was a new technique taught to officers in early 2020. It is the stabilizing of the head and applying pressure, Singletary said.

Singletary didn't mention "hypoglossal pressure" in the initial call. This the technique employed by Officer Mark Vaughn.

Warren didn't ask to see the video during the first call, Singletary said.

In the second call, Singletary said there would be a criminal investigation into the actions of the officers.

He didn't bring up the internal investigation in the first phone call.

"It was a very preliminary call," Singletary said.

He would provide more info after he watched the BWC footage.

The second call happened at 1:30 p.m. March 23, a 1-on-1 with Warren. He had two documents, one is an email from DC Morabito and another from the Lt. who was on scene

Emails from Morabito and Capt Frank Umbrino now entered as evidence.

Email was highlighted by Singletary. Morabito sent it to him before his 1:30 call with the mayor on March 23. He wanted to go over it with the major in explicit detail.

Umbrino wrote: Sure enough, they found the victim naked in the street. He was ordered to the ground and complied without resistance or force and was handcuffed.

At some point, Prude tried to get up and that’s when the officers went “hands on,” Singletary said.

He viewed the BWC footage with Lt. Tom Shaw around 10 am March 23.

He advised the rest of his command staff to watch the video, because “It was a very serious incident that occurred that morning.”

Discussions were held after they all viewed the video. Singletary recalls stating there would be an internal and criminal investigations, because Prude’s prognosis wasn’t good.

“I didn’t make a determination at that time, if the actions were justified.”

When he watched the bodycam footage, he watched it from the perspective of Officers Santiago and Vaughn, Singletary said.

Those are two of the three officers who restrained Mr. Prude.

No members of his command staff had reached a determination on that initial viewing. Also could've involved talks about suspensions.

Upon preliminary view, nothing criminal had occurred, Singletary said.

He shared this with Warren during their second phone call on March 23.

"It appeared there was nothing egregious at that point in time," Singletary said.

That was a preliminary determination, because there were no strikes and punches on video.

Cited the Christopher Pate case here. Said no officer (ie Michael Sippel, who was convicted and fired) engaged in any egregious behavior like that.

Celli: Did you tell the mayor an officer had applied a segmenting technique to Prude's head?

Singletary: I told Warren an officer held Mr. Prude's head to the ground, even after he was handcuffed and wearing a spit sock.

Celli: Did you tell it lasted more than two minutes?

Singletary: I don't believe so.

Celli: Did you say Officer Troy Taladay put his knee on Prude's back while he was on the ground?

Singletary: Yes.

Didn't specify how long it lasted.

Celli: Did you tell the mayor that Officer Francisco Santiago held Mr. Prude's feet on the ground?

Singletary: Yes.

Singletary said he told Warren the names of the three officers who restrained Prude.

Celli: Did the mayor ask any questions about Officer Vaughn's actions?

Singletary: No.

The mayor was surprised Prude was on PCP. Singletary said it must've come from Chicago.

Celli: Did the mayor ask any questions about Prude vomiting?

Singletary: Yes, it was a clear liquid coming out of his mouth while he was restrained.

Singletary said he was unconscious, Prude regained a pulse, and then was taken to the hospital after.

AMR did CPR and called it a 500 (which is a potential fatal victim), Umbrino wrote in his email. Victim was ultimately revived.

Singletary: I knew he had lost consciousness and come back.

Celli: Did you tell the mayor it was potentially a fatal incident?

Singletary: Said he was unconscious, brought back, and then taken to the hospital.

Next document is an email from Lt. Laszlo Tordai. This was forwarded to Singletary. Singletary said he used this document to brief the mayor. He also highlighted this email.

Singletary said Prude encountered a tow truck driver on Jefferson Ave. He relayed this to the mayor.

Prude was likely high on PCP, Singletary told Warren.

Prude "became suicidal and wished someone would just kill him." He was taken to the hospital for a previous MHA on March 22 and then returned to his brother's home on Child Street.

Celli: Did you tell Warren that Mr Prude had an encounter with police on March 22?

Singletary: Yes, I did.

Singletary: I described Mr. Prude's actions during that second call.

Uttering things, acting irrational, while on the ground, he was saying look at my penis. He was asking for the officer's gun. And that's when the officers went hands on, when Prude tried to get up.

I did not tell Warren, during the second call, that she needed to watch the body-worn camera footage, Singletary says.

Celli: Did you expect Warren would want to see the BWC footage?

Singletary: The mayor is pretty direct. If she wanted to see the footage, she would've told me.

Because she didn't ask to see the footage, I took it to mean she was OK with my explanation, Singletary said.

Singletary: There wasn't anything conclusive in the initial viewing of the footage that led me to believe there was anything criminal or anything that wasn't justified.

Celli: Did you see the officers making jokes and were you concerned about them joking or making derogatory comments?

Singletary: That would be addressed in the internal investigation. I saw it in the video and didn't tell the mayor about it. The focus was on the force involved.

Celli: There would be a criminal review at some point.

Singletary: I told the mayor we would treat this as an in-custody death, which would bring an internal investigation and an internal criminal review by RPD's major crimes unit.

Singletary said he texted DA Sandra Doorley on March 23 and then spoke with her on March 24.

Criminal review is a fact-finding internal investigation that would be turned over to the district attorney, Singletary said.

Singletary didn't say anything about the state Attorney General's Office (or Cuomo's executive order giving the state office the power to investigate incidents like this) on March 23 during his talks with mayor.

Preliminary internal review would be done within 48 hours by the department's professional standards section (internal affairs investigation basically). But that was just preliminary and not a final summation of events, he said.

Preliminary determination from PSS was delivered to Singletary later on March 23

"The police reports support the force..." internal investigation concluded on March 23.

But there is a determination between segmenting and stabilization, Celli asks. Do you agree these are different?

Singletary: Yes, but it's still a stabilization technique.

Here is the second page of Lt. Swetman’s internal report on March 23

The report, which was emailed to him, wasn't available to Singletary during his second chat with Warren on March 23.

They never discussed whether this incident should be reported to City Council on March 23, because "Mr. Prude was still alive at this point," Singletary says.

But other non-fatal incidents have been reported to City Council? Celli asks.

Correct, Singletary says.

Celli: Was there ever discussions about informing the public on March 23?

Singletary: There are investigations like this nearly every day, criminal reviews, and those aren't made public.

There was no intention of making this Prude incident public on March 23, Singletary says.

"An incident, an officer-involved shooting, the media is going to be made aware of that," Singletary said.

And the dept will typically make that public, because "there is broad awareness."

"Mr. Prude was still alive during that entire week. The investigations were underway. There were no discussions about it," Singletary said.

Singletary sent an email to Justin Roj, city communications director, on April 10 and Roj said there were no media inquiries at that point.

Singletary says he doesn't need a break and questioning will continue.

Singletary made the decision not to take the officers off “public-facing duties,” Celli asked.

“I didn’t find anything that warranted such,” Singletary says.

These discussions happened on both March 23 and March 31. None of his command staff said the officers should be suspended or placed on administrative leave, Singletary says.

March 23 email from Lt. Steven Swetman, who heads the department’s internal affairs bureau. Celli asking for clarification here.

Swetman didn't find any violations of procedure here, Singletary said. But since Mr. Prude's "prognosis was not good," Singletary ordered an internal investigation.

Internal investigation from professional standards section was put on hold due to the criminal probe? Celli asked.

Singletary: They happened simultaneously. But the criminal investigation takes precedent.

The investigations were ordered simultaneously, up until the officers would be asked to deliver statements. Officer statements would be interviewed in the criminal investigation at some point in April, but the state AG's office had stepped in by this point.

This is the first time we’re seeing Singletary’s text messages. He promised to turn those over before this deposition. This first one shows a status check on Mr. Prude’s condition.

Celli says he won’t screen share some of the upcoming exhibits, because they contain personal information. But he and Singletary are looking at the same information.

"These investigations are fluid," Singletary said.

They ultimately interviewed AMR EMTs for the criminal investigation.

Singletary said major crimes unit shouldn't interview AMR personnel early on, because they were focused on process, policy violations, and the actions of the officers.

They eventually interviewed them, however.

More text talk here: Singletary text to Morabito on March 26: "No change in our Jefferson Avenue dude?"

Morabito: No change.

The decision to not take officers off the street isn't documented, Singletary says. There is no paper trail there and the decision is entirely up to him.

"Had an officer acted criminally?" Singletary asked himself.

But he didn't find any cause here.

Singletary decided not to suspend or take officers off the street because of the union's collective bargaining agreement. That's one factor.

We didn't see anything that would warrant that, he says.

The officers weren't suspended with pay until September.

He didn't discuss any potential suspensions with the mayor in March, Singletary says.

"We didn't find anything that was outwardly egregious," Singletary says. There were no strikes or punches.

There is a a specific article in the collective bargaining agreement that talks about administrative leave, Singletary says.

Here is the text where Morabito informs Singletary that Mr. Prude has died. It came on March 30.

“I think we’ve done all we can do up this point...”

Celli: Did it occur to you on March 30 that the public should be informed of this death?

Singletary: It never occurred to me.

There were never any conversations between Singletary and Warren about going public on March 30 or 31.

Now talking about a text Singletary sent to Warren at 8:28 a.m. March 31.

This is the first time Singletary has told Warren that Mr. Prude, "likely high on PCP," had died.

This text is not being shown publicly.

Singletary said the Medical Examiner's Office would determine the cause of death. He agrees that this was not a "natural death."

Celli: Did you think this was significant?

Singletary: This incident had special circumstances. That's why we took it very seriously.

We didn't know what the cause of death was on March 30, Singletary says.

This was never described by me as a drug overdose. Warren, however, has said something different in her interactions with Singletary.

Singletary said he doesn't typically contact Warren about overdose deaths. But this incident was different.

We are now breaking until 11:40 a.m.