Judge Orders JSO to Release Jail Video and Reports to Charles Faggart's Family

For more than 18 months, the family of Charles Faggart has asked one question: what happened to their son inside the Duval County jail on April 7, 2025? On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Michael Sharrit ruled that they have waited long enough.

Judge Sharrit ordered the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to turn over the surveillance video and the incident reports from that night to the family and their attorneys. Plata Schott Law partner Belkis Plata represents the Faggart family and argued the case.

What happened to Charles Faggart

Charles Faggart was 31 years old. According to JSO's own incident report, he was being moved to a cell on April 7, 2025, when officers say he became aggressive and they restrained him. He was pepper-sprayed, placed in a restraint chair and, nearly two hours later, moved to a cell. Officers reported that he had a seizure. He was taken to the hospital and died three days later.

Medical records later obtained by The Tributary and reported by News4JAX showed injuries that JSO never disclosed: multiple fractures to his face and ribs, bruising across his body, serious damage to his kidneys and liver, and a stun-gun barb still in his back. Nine corrections officers involved in the incident were reassigned to posts with no inmate contact, where they remain. The FBI took over the investigation. No one has been charged.

His family believes Charles was beaten to death by the officers who were supposed to be guarding him. For a year and a half, the agency that holds the evidence has refused to let them see it.

Why the family had to sue to see public records

Florida's Public Records Act, Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes, is one of the strongest in the country.

The family requested the video, incident reports and investigative records shortly after Charles died. JSO did not produce them. On April 7, 2026, the one-year anniversary of the incident, the family filed a public records lawsuit against Sheriff T.K. Waters and JSO.

JSO's position was that the records are exempt as "active criminal investigative information" because the FBI's investigation is ongoing. That exemption is real, but it is not a blank check. The agency claiming it carries the burden of proving that the specific records fall within it. At an August hearing, Judge Sharrit noted that JSO had offered little to support its claim and that no one from the FBI or the U.S. Attorney's Office had come to court to explain how releasing the records would harm the investigation.

On Wednesday an Assistant U.S. Attorney did appear and argued that releasing the records publicly could let witnesses or subjects coordinate their stories or destroy evidence. He could not say when a charging decision might come. Judge Sharrit found that testimony was not enough to keep the records from the family itself.

What the ruling does, and what it doesn't

The order requires JSO to turn the video and the incident reports over to the family's attorneys immediately for the family's private review.

The order does not, yet, allow public release. The family and their lawyers cannot disclose what they see until the judge rules on a second question: whether the records can be released to the public. Both sides have ten days to submit proposed orders on that issue, and a decision is expected in the following weeks. The family's position is that the public should be able to see the video and read the report. JSO opposes that.

"On behalf of the family, this has been a very, very long and tough road for them. They've had no answers. They received a call one day, and their son was shackled and beaten and brain dead in a hospital bed when they saw him. And so the fact that we will have an understanding of what happened, I think for them, it's just a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders."

— Belkis Plata, to News4JAX after the ruling

Why the records matter for a wrongful death claim

The family intends to bring a wrongful death claim for Charles's death. To do that responsibly, they need to know who did what.

Under Florida's Wrongful Death Act, the personal representative of the estate brings the claim on behalf of the survivors. When the defendant is a sheriff's office, the claim runs through Florida Statute § 768.28: written notice to the agency and the Florida Department of Financial Services, a waiting period, and damage caps of $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident unless the Legislature passes a claim bill. Individual officers can also be sued, and a federal civil rights claim is possible when officers use excessive force on someone in their custody. Each of those paths depends on knowing which officers were involved and what they did, which is exactly what the video and reports will show.

The deadlines in these cases are short, two years for a wrongful death claim, and an agency that stalls a records request runs down that clock. That is why the family did not wait for the FBI before going to court.

"We have every intention of filing a wrongful death claim for his passing," Belkis said, "but we need to know who did what so that we can hold those individuals accountable."

What comes next

Within the next week or so, the family will see the video for the first time. Within the next several weeks, Judge Sharrit will decide whether the public sees it too. The FBI investigation continues with no announced timeline.

Charles's mother, Tracey Karpas, has said she will go to her grave fighting for the truth. Her message to the people responsible has not changed: "Tell the truth and do your job."

We will update this post as the case develops.

Can a family in Florida get jail video after a death in custody?

It depends. Jail surveillance video and incident reports are public records under Chapter 119. An agency can withhold records that are genuinely part of an active criminal investigation, but it has to prove the exemption applies to the specific records, and a court can order release, as happened here. The practical problem is time: agencies often sit on requests, and a family may have to file suit to force a response.

How long does a family have to bring a wrongful death claim against a sheriff's office in Florida?

Two years from the death for the wrongful death claim itself, and the § 768.28 notice to the agency and the Department of Financial Services must be served within that window. The deadline does not pause while a criminal or FBI investigation is pending. Families should talk to a lawyer well before the two-year mark.

Does the FBI investigation stop a civil case?

No. The criminal investigation and the civil claim are separate. A civil case can be filed while the investigation is pending, though a court may slow parts of it while criminal proceedings play out. The civil case is the only path that provides compensation to the family and the only one the family controls.

If your family has lost someone in a Florida jail or in police custody, we would be glad to talk with you. We handle wrongful death cases throughout Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, and we are not afraid to take on a sheriff's office.

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