A Richmond County judge heard arguments Tuesday in the case of a deputy accused of assaulting another deputy four years ago.
Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Keathley is under indictment for aggravated assault and assaulting a peace officer, former deputy Nicholas Nunes, on Feb. 7, 2020.
Keathley is accused of striking Nunes in the back of the head with a flashlight as officers attempted to render aid to a gunshot victim, who later died.
Nunes’ wound needed stitches and staples to close.
The incident prompted Sheriff Richard Roundtree to suspend Keathley with pay, and he remained on the payroll for at least three years.
Nunes was given a letter of reprimand and he soon took another law enforcement job in Arizona.
The sheriff’s office charged neither with a crime, but later in 2020, then-district attorney Natalie Paine presented the case and body cam video to a grand jury, which indicted Keathley on the two felony counts.
The case is one of several from which Augusta Circuit District Attorney Jared Williams recused his office, based on a conflict with his former employer, the Jacque Hawk Law Firm.
Moved to the Columbia County Judicial Circuit, the case was assigned to Paine, who is now chief assistant district attorney there.
Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Jesse Stone heard arguments from Paine and Keathley attorney Jacque Hawk on motions filed in the case.
Paine is opposing Hawk’s attempt to call her and former Richmond County Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton at witnesses at trial.
Hawk is trying to get the indictment dismissed based on allegations Paine denied Keathley due process.
Hawk is arguing that Paine had a close relationship with an officer who worked the same shift as Nunes, so she should recuse herself, and that she omitted certain necessary instructions to the grand jury.
He said the former DA needs to be a witness to answer “how and why these charges were made” after the sheriff’s office declined to do so.
He said he intended to call Clayton to testify about the sheriff’s office’s policies and procedures.
Paine argued that neither she nor Clayton were witnesses to the event.
She said a video Hawk sought to introduce of Clayton speaking to a reporter included his “wild allegations” and speculation about how the case was handled.
She said Nunes was not a close friend and that no conflict existed.
Calling her as a witness is a “deceitful attempt to get me off the case,” Paine said.
The incident prompted the parents of the 17-year-old victim, DeAngelo Burns to sue the sheriff’s office, Keathley and Nunes. A judge dismissed that case last year.
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
