Miami-Dade prosecutors drop charges against jail inmate accused of assaulting guard
State prosecutors have dropped charges accusing a Miami-Dade County jail inmate of assaulting and stalking a corrections officer after the Miami Herald published a story last week with a video showing the officer pummeled the man while he was wearing handcuffs and carrying a cane.
The criminal case against Mike Neal was closed Monday after the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office filed paperwork with the court indicating that it was not proceeding with the prosecution of the inmate because the office could not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Neal was repeatedly punched last year by county corrections officer Delman Lumpkin, who was recently assigned to administrative duty and is under investigation along with two other officers involved in the April 12, 2019, skirmish at the Metro West Detention Center, according to court records.
Assistant State Attorney Alexandria Lewis notified Neal’s defense attorney, Marlene Montaner, and Circuit Judge Gina Beovides — but without explaining in detail why her office suddenly dropped the case in light of the fact that prosecutors had reviewed the jail video in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
“After a thorough review of the case file, the state is unable to meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Lewis wrote in a so-called nolle prose memo filed in court. In a separate form signed Wednesday, the prosecutor also cited “evidentiary problems” with the case.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office declined to comment further about those specific problems.
Neal, 45, will remain in custody because he still faces other charges, including arson based on allegations that he started a fire while incarcerated at the county jail in Doral. But those other charges might soon be resolved.
In an email to Neal’s defense attorney, Lewis said: “I remain hopeful that we can resolve all of his cases in the near future now that this case is dismissed.”
Montaner said Wednesday she was “very happy” that prosecutors dropped the assault and stalking case against her client, and that “it feels like they’re trying to turn over a new leaf.”
“We have the momentum to make his other cases go away,” Montaner said.
In April of last year, Lumpkin punched Neal repeatedly — 15 times with both fists in just over 10 seconds — in the confrontation caught on video at the county jail and obtained by the Herald. The pummeling only ended when a second officer stepped in, pushing his colleague off and wrapping his arms around Neal. The video shows a third corrections officer then also stepping in to separate his fellow guard, Lumpkin, from Neal.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges in the case — but against the inmate, not the guard. Prosecutors initially charged Neal with aggravated assault, a felony. But after viewing the video, prosecutors reduced the initial charge to a misdemeanor assault — but they added a new felony charge accusing Neal of “stalking” the corrections officer in the months leading up to the violent jail confrontation. The basis of that charge is unclear.
No charges have been filed against any of the three guards. But more than a year after charging Neal, prosecutors finally told the defense in a state court filing in June that Lumpkin and the other two corrections officers are under criminal investigation for battery and official misconduct.
Lumpkin’s defense attorney, Joe Klock, said the state attorney’s office made the wrong decision in dropping the charges against Neal, saying the jail video shows that the inmate “adopted an aggressive stance, and then when officer Lumpkin pushed him back, [Neal] swung his arm at officer Lumpkin.
“As can be seen from the video, Neal showed no signs of any injury,” Klock said, claiming the inmate used his cane as a “weapon,” not to help him walk. “The fact is that Neal is a con artist.”
When the Herald’s story was published online last Friday, the county’s correctional department said it could not comment on whether the three corrections officers are still working at the county jail or assigned to other duties, saying there is an “open investigation” into the jail incident. But after the story was published in the newspaper on Monday, the correctional department said Lumpkin has been placed on “administrative assignment with no inmate contact” while the two other officers remain on “full duty pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Before the skirmish, there were simmering tensions between Neal and Lumpkin, according to court records.
The inmate was being detained at the county jail on an attempted murder charge filed in 2015, which prosecutors dropped in February after revealing that the victim of a stabbing by Neal did not want to testify and that the defendant could probably prove at trial that he acted in self-defense. Despite the dismissal of that case, Neal remained in custody on arson charges of starting fires while incarcerated at the county jail.
As he was awaiting trial, Neal had also filed several grievances claiming Lumpkin, the guard, repeatedly threatened him and his supervisors ignored his complaints, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed in May by the inmate’s civil attorney, John Byrne.
“Mr. Neal has been living a nightmare for over a year,” Byrne told the Herald on Wednesday. “He was repeatedly beaten by a correctional officer and, instead of the officer being charged with a crime, he was charged.”
“Monday’s dismissal of the charges against him, though long overdue, is a step in the right direction,” he said. “But we urge the state attorney’s office to finish its investigation into this beating and take further appropriate action.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 2:01 PM.
