<p>A civil rights group said Monday that it will launch a series of protests against the suburban Atlanta county in which a prosecutor declined to revisit the case of a jailed black man who died days after he was stunned with a Taser.</p><p>The Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference previously had asked that District Attorney Danny Porter reopen the investigation of the death of Frederick Williams, who died in May 2004 after deputies stunned him with a Taser gun while in jail.</p><p>The civil rights group wanted him to recommend a special grand jury be convened to re-examine whether the deputies should be held accountable for the 31-year-old Lawrenceville man's death.</p><p>"Due to the fact we've been denied our request ... we have no other choice but to do whatever we have to do," said SCLC president Charles Steele. "I'm pleading again with Mr. Porter to just show the evidence, nothing more."</p><p>The protests are expected to begin in August, beginning with a national march from civil rights groups on Gwinnett County. The march likely will culminate in a sit-in at the county courthouse, Steele said. The SCLC also is asking for people to participate in an economic boycott of the county.</p><p>The SCLC received on Monday a letter from Porter denying the request.</p><p>"I will not, under any circumstances, be directed as to which evidence will be presented to the grand jury," Porter wrote in his letter to the SCLC.</p><p>Porter wrote in the letter there was no evidence any of the deputies intended to assault or kill Williams. He also questioned whether the taser caused Williams' death, saying there was "no direct evidence."</p><p>The SCLC wanted Porter to show a special grand jury the videotape of officers subduing Williams. It depicts a half-dozen deputies surrounding Williams and prodding him repeatedly with the Taser, which delivers a charge of up to 50,000 volts. The officers were trying to put a struggling Williams, locked in handcuffs and manacles, into a restraining chair.</p><p>Williams bucked and appeared to try to push himself out of the chair. Within minutes, he lost consciousness. He died two days later.</p><p>Porter presented the case to a grand jury April 27, but did not include the videotape. He said the grand jury, which did not return any indictments, did not want to see the video.</p><p>Porter wrote that by asking a second panel to hear the case, the SCLC has "attacked the credibility of the present grand jury." He added that he would not allow any group to "shop for a better result."</p><p>Gwinnett County police went to Williams' home after a 911 call from his wife and 9-year-old son, who said Williams was "talking crazy" and that he had not taken his epilepsy medication.</p><p>The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. helped found the Atlanta-based SCLC in 1957.</p><p>____</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdcd10)</p>
