REYNOLDSBURG (WCMH) – The Franklin County Prosecutor is dismissing 15 pending cases that involved a detective who killed himself in jail after being arrested on drug trafficking charges.
Former detective Tye Downard was involved in each of the 15 cases being dismissed by Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien
According to O’Brien, Downard’s misconduct would taint the case.
“It is an unavoidable circumstance of our need to make sure the public and criminal justice system is untainted by any suspicion of misconduct,” O’Brien said.
Charges in the cases include cocaine possession, marijuana possession, drug trafficking, illegal cultivation, and heroin possession.
Downard was arrested in February by federal authorities and was accused of drug trafficking.
According to federal investigators, Downard made more than 20 deliveries of narcotics, including heroin, cocaine, marijuana and Percocet pills, between October 2015 and February 2016.
Two other Reynoldsburg Police Officers remain under investigation and on leave.
Reynoldsburg Police Chief Jim O’Neill says, “To us, it does represent a significant investment in man power and resources to get us to this point, to follow the charges on those 15 individuals.”
Chief O’Neill says he understands O’Brien’s decision. He regrets the actions of a couple of his officers will allow these suspects back on the streets, “We know you can’t go into court with a loser of a case and unfortunately with the ways things have gone in the last month or so there was going to be no way for them to move forward.”
Downard was held in the Delaware County Jail until he was found dead in his cell on February 22 from an apparent suicide.
Most of the suspects had been charged with felonies. Some could have been sentenced to more than a decade in prison if convicted. It’s even possible these suspects were charged with lower crimes since some of their drugs were allegedly stolen by at least detective.
Prosecutor O’Brien said, “The prosecution has a duty to seek justice based on available evidence that was lawfully seized. The federal charges filed against Det. Downard before his death raised a sufficient doubt as to whether a fair prosecution could proceed given his involvement in these cases. After review of these files a dismissal was requested as the investigation and seizures could not be sufficiently divorced from Downard’s involvement.”
O’Brien tells NBC4 one suspect was released directly from jail. At least one attorney from a closed case has already filed for a new trial. More may come. The county prosecutor’s office has already reviewed more than 100 cases these detectives were involved in.
In addition, one motion for a new trial has been filed by a defense attorney in a previously closed case.Full list of dismissed cases:
- Larry Williams – Possession of Cocaine
- Teddy Walls, Jr. – Possession of Marijuana
- Marvon Montague – Possession of Marijuana
- Anthony Turner – Trafficking in Marijuana, Possession of Marijuana
- Kenneth Layton, Jr. – Possession and Trafficking Cocaine/Major Drug Offender (MDO), Possession and Trafficking Marijuana/MDO, Trafficking in Marijuana
- Bradley Shira – Possession of Marijuana
- Alex Harper – Trafficking and Possession of Cocaine, Weapon Under Disability
- Charles Kramer – Illegal Cultivation w/Specification, Trafficking and Possession of Marijuana w/Specification
- Amber Graham – Illegal Cultivation w/Specification, Trafficking and Possession of Marijuana w/Specification
- Zachary Simcoe – Illegal Cultivation w/Specification, Trafficking and Possession of Marijuana w/Specification
- Darnell Jenkins – Trafficking and Possession Marijuana
- Dearco Stillwell – Possession of Marijuana
- Johnny Robertson – Possession of Marijuana
- Marquis Lucas – Possession of Marijuana
- Brian Estrada – Trafficking and Possession of Heroin
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