5 white Georgia police officers could face trial in deaths of unarmed black men next year: report
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DeKalb County Police Officer Robert Olsen is accused of killing Afghanistan war veteran Anthony Hill. (Dekalb Police Dept/USAF)
As many as five police officers in Georgia – all of whom are white – are likely to stand trial in the deaths of unarmed black men next year, a noteworthy number of prosecutions in a state which has historically had a high bar for trying cops.
All five officers – including DeKalb County Police Officer Robert Olsen who killed Afghanistan war veteran Anthony Hill in 2015 – were indicted under new state grand jury rules that went into effect in 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The new rules no longer allow officers to look at the prosecution’s case and then testify -- without being cross-examined -- privileges historically available only to cops in Georgia.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“There was a long period where there weren’t any [prosecutions of police officers], so five is worth noting,” former DeKalb District Attorney Robert James told the newspaper.
The new rules, he said, “somewhere leveled the playing field,” in getting a murder charge against Olsen and the other police officers.
“There were some incidents that I thought were wrong, that I was very upset about, but under the laws at the time, the officers were protected and there was no way we were going to win those cases,” James added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Olsen’s trial is expected first. He is accused of shooting Hall on March 9, 2015, while responding to a call about a naked man behaving erratically outside a suburban Atlanta apartment complex.
Earlier this year, during an immunity hearing, Olsen claimed self-defense and that he believed he was going to get “pummeled and pounded” by the unarmed U.S. Air Force veteran’
Left to right: Former Washington County deputies Henry Copeland, Michael Howell, and Rhett Scott. (Washington County Jail)
Three police officers – Washington County deputies Michael Howell, Henry L. Copeland, and Rhett Scott – were indicted for allegedly Tasing victim Eurie Lee Martin, 59, to death in July 2017.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the newspaper, the fatal incident began with a request for water on a hot July afternoon.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations concluded that Martin, who suffered from schizophrenia and was walking some 20 miles to see relatives in Sandersville, broke no laws when he was questioned by Howell.
Prosecutors said Eurie Lee Martin was Tased to death by with Washington County deputies. (AP)
Cellphone video shot by a passing motorist showed Martin face down, handcuffed and drying of respiratory distress, according to the Journal-Constitution.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meanwhile, former Atlanta Police Officer James Burns was re-indicted in September for the death of Deravis Rogers.
Former Atlanta Police Officer James Burns is accused in the death of Deravis Rogers. (Atlanta Police Dept/Go Fund Me)
Prosecutors say Burns was responding to a suspicious person call in June 2016 when he fired shots into a car driven by the 22-year-old Rogers, killing him. Investigators said they concluded the officer wasn't in danger when he opened fire, and that he had no way to identify Rogers as the reported suspicious person.
Trial dates have not been set for the officers, but prosecutors expect them to happen sometime in 2019.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.