John-Mark Atkinson Fights To Find Out Truth About Man's Death

Story Posted to DC News Now website here: https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/west-virginia/berkeley-county/family-still-searching-for-answers-after-hagerstown-mans-death-on-i-81-in-wv/

by: Mikayla Newton

Posted: Mar 23, 2023 / 07:57 PM EDT

Updated: Mar 23, 2023 / 11:00 PM EDT

BERKELEY COUNTY, W.Va. (DC News Now) — A newly appointed interim superintendent for the West Virginia State Police says he is now reviewing past investigations conducted by the force amidst allegations of misconduct brought to light by Governor Jim Justice earlier this week.

In a press conference Tuesday, Justice said he supports “cutting out bad actors.”

The governor also said he will look into the case of Edmond Exline’s death. Exline was a Hagerstown man who died after an encounter with State Police along I-81 in February. Exline died at a Berkeley County hospital after being immobilized by a stun gun.

“The situation on I-81 is under investigation at this time. The autopsy reports are not in. We have a loss of life there, and it’s very concerning,” said Justice.

John-Mark Atkinson, the attorney for the Exline family, said that they’re still waiting for valuable information regarding Exline’s death.

“They’re still hoping to plan the whole service for him and haven’t been able to. They haven’t received his body yet, and they’re really just frustrated and confused because they don’t know what happened to him. The information we’ve heard from some of the West Virginia officials seems to indicate that the officers’ behavior wasn’t appropriate, to say the least,” said Atkinson.

The attorney says if they believe there was any wrongdoing in the incident a lawsuit will be filed against state police and the troopers involved.

State police have yet to release body camera footage or any other details regarding the investigation.

The case is still under investigation by a special prosecuting attorney.