By admin 
The lawyer for Bart Edmiston Jr., one of Nolan Xavier Wells’ friends, has put Jeanetta Brantley on notice of a pending defamation lawsuit over what she publicized as statements she obtained after enhancing audio from a Sea Tow distress call.
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Attorney Russell Latino is representing Edmiston and his family in the pending litigation against Brantley, who he accuses in a letter of making false and defamatory statements about what was said on a Sea Tow distress call made during the return trip from Horn Island the day Wells went missing.
Brantley, Latino, said, has presented herself as an objective “audio engineer” who enhanced the Sea Tow distress call.
“Mrs. Brantley’s work has been at the center of much of the defamation in this case,” he said. “Her representations and the interpretation of those representations are false. They’ve been seen by millions, subjected my client, Bart Edmiston Jr., to national-level reputational damage, jeopardized his future and contributed to multiple credible death threats that have led to federal arrests.”
Wells had traveled to Horn Island on July 4 with a large group of friends. The friends took three boats to Horn Island, a barrier island about 10 miles off the Mississippi Coast, to celebrate Independence Day.
Wells’ friends returned to the mainland without him, saying he had stayed behind to talk to a girl. Two days later, on July 6, authorities found Wells’ body.
Since Wells’ death, his parents, Elmore and Christine Wonsley, hired civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, to do an independent investigation.
A Jackson County grand jury has since found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in Wells’ death, though both the Mississippi Medical Examiner’s Office and an independent forensic pathologist determined the cause and manner of death as undetermined and inconclusive, but neither could rule out drowning as a possible cause of death.
The grand jury said in its report that it “finds that the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning.” However, there was no water or debris found In Wells’ lungs, and his stomach was empty.
President Donald Trump has since said he’d consider a request for the U.S. Department of Justice to do an independent investigation into Wells’ death, though FBI agents assisted in the state investigation headed up by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.
In the aftermath of the grand jury ruling, the Edmiston family issued a statement, noting how Wells’ death was tragedy along with “the way his friends, his community and his state were maligned by unscrupulous charlatans and grifters who spread false and malicious lies.”
“The grand jury, made up of Mississippians of all races and backgrounds, did its solemn duty,” the family said. “But to anyone who knew the actual facts, not the reckless garbage spewed on the internet, the result of the process was never in doubt. There was never any evidence of a crime. Suggestions otherwise were always pure fabrications that flew in the face of the overwhelming weight of evidence. “
The statement ended by saying, the “Edmiston family looks forward to bringing accountability to those who exploited tragedy to divide and injure.“
Since the grand jury ruling, a number of defamation lawsuits have been filed in state and federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi.
The trip back, and boat taking on water
On the way back from Horn Island on July 4, the boat Wells had traveled on to the island the morning of July 4 began taking on water because of a malfunctioning bilge pump, prompting a call to Sea Tow, a membership-based boat towing and assistance service.
Edmiston eventually towed the boat a short distance until some of the water spilled out, after which the friends continued the trip back to the mainland on their own.
In the letter, Latino alleges Brantley removed music that played while the Sea Tow dispatcher had placed the caller on hold and made audio adjustments, including changes to the frequency range, such as bass and treble. Latino says Brantley then produced her own transcript of what she claimed was said during the call.
According to the letter, Brantley said she heard Edmiston’s name for the first time while she was reviewing her enhanced recording of the call. She also allegedly reposted content accusing Edmiston of killing Wells and other content saying “all of Mr. Wells’ friends should be in jail.”
The letter says Brantley called Wells’ death “fishy” and said Wells, 18, of Ocean Springs, did not drown and that his friends “know what happened and don’t want to come forward.”
The letter alleges defamation, defamation by implication, false light, emotional distress, interference with business relationships and civil conspiracy.
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Poor quality copy of Sea Tow call
At the center of the dispute with Brantley is what she said was on the Sea Tow call.
According to Latino, Brantley obtained a poor-quality copy of the recording, enhanced it and erroneously interpreted portions of it as saying, “dammit, Bart” and “NoNo’s (a nickname for Wells) really dead now.”
Brantley has said on social media that she obtained the original Sea Tow distress call directly from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
The media, including the Sun Herald, obtained a copy of the Sea Tow call from MDMR as well.
Latino argues Brantley was not a qualified forensic audio examiner, did not have the original recording or a digital audio trail and failed to perform recommended forensic analyses to determine whether the words were actually spoken.
Despite that, Latino said, Brantley presented her interpretation as fact and used it to accuse Edmiston of being involved in Wells’ death.
In addition, Latino also disputes prior claims by Brantley that she had not previously heard Edmiston’s name before enhancing the recording on July 26, citing social media posts from July 23 and July 25 in which she allegedly had already referred to him.
Latino also alleges that Brantley had publicly expressed the belief that Wells was murdered before conducting the audio enhancement. The letter cites posts including one stating, “Nolan Wells didn’t drown.”
The letter says Brantley later shared an Aug. 2 video by Daniel Collins that said, “The Nolan Wells case, Bart did it.”
According to the letter, the video advanced a theory that Edmiston was jealous of Wells’ relationship with a white woman and killed him in a chokehold.
Brantley made a response to the video, according to Latino, in which she said, “I admire and respect his honesty,” which the attorney claims is another example that Brantley endorsed the allegation against Edmiston.
Edmiston, Latino said, “had almost no contact with Wells on the Fourth, short of a quick hello that morning on Horn Island.”
Edmiston, he said, was never a suspect in Wells’ death investigation. He added that during Edmiston’s time on Horn Island, he had “never touched him.”
“He certainly never harmed him,” Latino said, adding that Wells was never on Edmiston’s boat that day. Latino added that Edmiston fully cooperated with the investigation and allowed authorities to access his phone, boat and GPS data.
In addition, Latino added that Edmiston and his family had not hired an attorney to represent any of them at the time that Edmiston voluntarily cooperated with authorities and turned over all the information they requested, including his phone.
Edmiston and his family retained Latino after they started receiving death threats in the aftermath of Wells’ death and allegations accusing Edmiston of committing a crime.
The attorneys have demanded that Brantley retract her alleged erroneous statements.
The allegations in the letter sent to Brantley represent one side of a story. The Sun Herald has attempted to reach Brantley for comment, but has not heard back.
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