Charges against student caught on camera scuffling with security dropped

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Criminal charges stemming from a controversial scuffle caught on camera have been dropped against a South Florida college student.

In that video, Florida Memorial University Student Emory Mitchell can be seen struggling with campus security officers. At one point on that video one of those officers even pulled a gun on students surrounding the scene.

Mitchell walked out of the Metro Justice Building Wednesday morning feeling relieved. The hearing lasted less than one minute because it did not take long for the judge to say the state decided not to take any action against him.

After he was charged with assaulting the security guards on campus, Mitchell refused to give up, taking the charges to court. "Of course I'd continue fighting this, especially if you're not guilty," he said outside the courtroom.

Cellphone video caught the exchange with the officers inside and outside a restroom on campus, Oct. 19. A guard even pulled out a gun on the students that had gathered to watch and record the event with their cellphone cameras. Mitchell insisted the guards attacked him "They punched me, they kicked me, they beat me with a baton, they knocked my hand against the wall, against the bathroom stall. There was just an excessive use of violence," Mitchell said.

Mitchell wound up arrested, accused of battery. "So I was being accused of something I did not do," he said.

In court, Mitchell and his attorney would learn prosecutors decided against pursuing those charges. "Nothing panned out," said Mitchell's lawyer Joseph Vredevelt, "and I think the state attorney saw that very quickly, and that's why they made the decision that they did."

With the case dismissed, it still might not end Mitchell's visits to court. Now he and his attorney are considering pursing civil action. Vredevelt said the state could not build a case after the accusing security officers provided conflicting accounts of the event. He added that they could not even agree on what prompted their interest in Mitchell. They had initially said they stopped him for marijuana possession, but, according to the attorney, they found no evidence of drugs on him at all.

Mitchell and Vredevelt are not only looking into suing the security officer but also the university that employed them. The university said they have their own internal investigation going on, and Mitchell remains suspended pending that outcome. Still, Mitchell is pleased with the current outcome of what would have been a criminal case against him. "I feel great about it," he said. "I'm glad justice is finally served."

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