Correspondence shows weeks of back-and-forth between attorneys, D.A.’s office over Nolan Wells’ cell phone

SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WXXV) — New developments are expected on Thursday in the investigation surrounding Nolan Wells’ death.

A press conference with Nolan Wells’ legal team is scheduled in Orlando, Florida, where they are expected to discuss the findings of a forensic examination of wells’ cell phone.

This press conference comes just days after a Jackson County grand jury issued a no true bill decision in the investigation into Nolan Wells’ death. Now, Nolan’s family and their attorneys are turning their attention to what they say was recovered from his cell phone.

For weeks, the district attorney’s office and Nolan Wells’ family attorneys went back and forth over one piece of evidence—Nolan’s cell phone.

The correspondence begins August 9 — that’s when attorneys for the Wonsley family thanked the D.A.’s office for agreeing to consider information from the family’s private investigation as part of its presentation to the grand jury. The attorneys also said they would coordinate with prosecutors about downloading information from Nolan’s phone.

Two days later, attorney Ahmad R. Smith made the family’s position clear. He wrote, “We are prepared to coordinate a mutually agreeable date and procedure for the examination of the phone,” noting that “to the extent there has been any suggestion that we have been unwilling or have failed to cooperate with the investigation, we want to make clear that this is not the case.”

The next day, the D.A.’s office requested the phone be delivered to the FBI by 9 a.m. August 14. District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath also noted that the state had never had possession of the phone and that access to it was controlled by Nolan’s parents.

Attorney Smith responded that the family was willing to meet with the D.A.’s office and FBI for a joint examination—but said the August 14 deadline was “not practicable for a number of reasons.”

He said the Wonsley family had been given less than 48 hours’ notice and would not be back in Mississippi before the deadline.

On August 17, Smith again contacted the district attorney’s office, saying the family was prepared to make the phone immediately available. District attorney McIlrath responded that if the state had a legal basis to seize and search the phone, they would have already done so. She said investigators instead had to rely on the Wonsleys to voluntarily turn over the device.

D.A. McIlrath then asked that the phone be delivered to the FBI on August 19 if the family wanted the examination included in the investigation and presented to the grand jury. The following day, Attorney Smith told prosecutors the Wonsleys would deliver the phone, but on August 19 – the agreed upon date – the D.A.’s office learned the phone would instead be examined by independent forensic investigators Andrew Garrett and Christian Garrett of Garrett Discovery.

The D.A.’s office requested the raw extraction data and reports, and a preliminary report was provided to them on August 28. Attorney Smith said the examination was still ongoing and a complete report would follow.

Then, on September 1, the D.A.’s office followed up, saying it had not received the completed report. Attorney Smith responded on September 2, saying the examination was taking longer than expected.

Finally, on September 16 – two weeks later – the finalized forensic report was sent to the D.A’s office, which reportedly included a summary of Snapchat communications extracted from Nolan’s phone.

The correspondence shows both sides repeatedly discussing how and when the phone would be examined—with the family ultimately choosing an independent forensic examination rather than turning the device over to the FBI.

The grand jury report was released on September 21, and it stated that the grand jury received a 14-page report concerning Wells’ cell phone from the families forensic examiner – Garrett Discovery. The grand jury also received a 21-page final report and a 261-page Snapchat conversation report which were considered in the investigation.

The press conference breaking down the details of those findings will be held at 10:30 a.m. central time on Thursday morning. It will be live streamed on WXXV’s Facebook page.