Police Car as Coffin. "Sir I Can't Breathe." Williams suffocated to death while handcuffed, naked from a strip search, in the back of a police car. He repeatedly told white police officers he couldn't breathe for at least 15 minutes between the time of his arrest and his death. They repeatedly ignore him as he suffocated to death. It is captured on graphic video which was released in September. (graphic video, no sound for first minute) 

From [HERE] In the five months since the public release of a video of Derek Williams struggling to breathe in the back of a Milwaukee police car, citizens have clamored to be heard. Beginning Monday, six of them will get their chance in a Milwaukee County courtroom, serving as jurors at an inquest into Williams' death. Their advisory verdict will guide special prosecutor John Franke as he considers whether to criminally charge any of the police officers involved.

The six jurors and three alternates are expected to be chosen Monday morning. All that week and perhaps into next, they will hear evidence and testimony, including expert interpretations of the video. Then, they will vote on which charges, if any, should be issued.

In more than 25 years, no Milwaukee County inquest jury has recommended criminal charges against a police officer involved in a fatal shooting or in-custody death. So, expect white supremacy not justice. [MORE]

Williams, 22, died in July 2011. The initial investiga tions into his death - by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, the Police Department and the city's Fire and Police Commission - all cleared the officers of wrongdoing. 

Chisholm reopened the case, named Franke special prosecutor and sought the inquest after a Journal Sentinel investigation prompted the medical examiner's office to change its ruling in the death from natural to homicide.  The ruling was changed after a reporter provided an assistant medical examiner with police reports that showed force was used during the arrest - reports that contradicted police statements to the pathologist.

The FBI also has convened a federal criminal civil rights investigation into Williams' death, which remains ongoing. In a separate inquiry, federal authorities in Washington, D.C., are investigating whether to sue the Police Department for a possible pattern of violating civil rights.

After 10 months of records requests and negotiations with the city, the Journal Sentinel also obtained the squad car video, which shows officers ignoring Williams' pleas for help for about eight minutes.

Inquests are used only to investigate suspected homicides and suspicious deaths, Franke said at an earlier hearing. After reviewing a number of statutes, he decided the potential charges most applicable in Williams' case are first- and second-degree reckless homicide, both felonies, and failure to render aid by law enforcement, a misdemeanor.

Depending on the evidence revealed during the inquest, Franke may ask jurors to consider other charges as well.

Which evidence comes to light depends, in large part, on how Franke chooses to conduct the hearing. For example, he could call medical experts who agree on the cause of death or experts with different opinions that would need to be evaluated by the jury. He could offer police officers immunity from prosecution in exchange for truthful testimony, or he could refuse to offer immunity, risking the possibility that officers will assert their 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions.

Franke has so much power because, under the law, the prosecutor is the only lawyer with a voice in an inquest. Only prosecutors may call and question witnesses. Inquest jurors never hear from the families of the dead or from their attorneys, unless the prosecutor agrees to ask witnesses their questions. There is no cross-examination.

The prosecutor also is the only one with a say in which potential crimes jurors should consider.