Officer indicted in death of naked unarmed man
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A grand jury handed down a six-count indictment of a DeKalb County Police officer in the shooting death of Anthony Hill, who was unarmed and naked.
Charges against Robert Olsen include felony murder, aggravated assault and violation of oath of office.
The decision came after DeKalb County prosecutors presented their case against Olsen, who fatally shot Hill on March 9 while responding to a call of a man behaving erratically outside a suburban Atlanta apartment complex.
The family of the 27-year-old Hill says he was a U.S. Air Force veteran who had served in Afghanistan and was dealing with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Olsen was indicted on two counts each of felony murder and violating oath of office and one count each of aggravated assault and making a false statement.
A crowd of several dozen outside the courtroom burst into cheers upon hearing the decision and chanted, “All six counts.”
Hill’s mother, Carolyn Giummo, said she was thankful the grand jury came to the decision it did.
DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James’ office takes the somewhat unusual step of presenting every case involving a shooting by an officer to a grand jury for civil review, and the grand jurors recommend whether the case should be considered for criminal prosecution. Ultimately, the district attorney decides whether to seek indictment.
Grand jurors in October heard evidence in Olsen’s case but said inconsistencies and contradictions prevented them from being able to recommend whether or not the district attorney should pursue indictment. The grand jurors said more information was needed.
Additional investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting led James to conclude that there was enough evidence to support charges on the six counts, he said earlier this month when he announced his decision to bring the case before another grand jury for criminal consideration.
Hill’s family in November filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the DeKalb County Police Department, Olsen, the county and its board of commissioners.
Supporters of Hill camped outside of the DeKalb courthouse all week, in freezing temperatures. They said they wanted to be there when grand jurors walked inside the building for the hearing.
Olsen is white and Hill was black. Tensions between police and minorities have risen across the country in the aftermath of a series of shootings mostly involving white law enforcement officers and unarmed African-American males. An unwillingness by grand juries to indict the officers in many cases has sparked protests in cities around the country.
Georgia law gives police officers the right to sit in the grand jury room and hear all evidence and testimony. Olsen also had the right to make a statement under oath.
Partly as a result, grand juries in Georgia usually side with police officers and they are almost never prosecuted.
Out of 51 police-involved shootings that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has investigated in the past 10 years, eight have made it to grand juries and only one case has made it to trial.
Contributing: The Associated Press