Georgia officer who fatally shot unarmed, naked man has convictions overturned

An appeals court has overturned the conviction of a former Georgia state trooper who shot and killed an unarmed, naked man.

Robert “Chip” Olsen responded to a call of a naked man acting erratically at an Atlanta-area apartment complex in March 2015 and found Anthony Hill, a 26-year-old Black Air Force veteran who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. ) was killed. and post-traumatic stress disorder. Olsen, who worked for the DeKalb County Police Department, said he was acting in self-defense.

A jury in 2019 convicted Olsen of one count of aggravated assault, two counts of violating his oath of office, and one count of making false statements. However, a jury found him not guilty of two counts of felony murder. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by eight years of probation.

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Prior to trial, Olsen’s attorneys had objected to the DeKalb County Police Department’s use-of-force policy being introduced as evidence. They said some of its provisions conflicted with Georgia’s self-defense law and that acknowledging them would confuse jurors.

State Court of Appeals Judge Brian Rickman said in a unanimous opinion Tuesday that the trial court erred by admitting the policy into evidence without identifying and redacting the portions that conflicted with Georgia law. He wrote that the error was compounded by jurors being told that the policy could be used to “evaluate the reasonableness” of Olsen’s use of deadly force. Prosecutors also reiterated in closing arguments that the policy provides a legal standard for determining whether Olsen’s use of force was reasonable.

Georgia law states that the use of force intended or likely to cause death is defined as “to prevent death or serious bodily injury to oneself or another person, or to prevent the commission of a criminal act.” The use of force is justified if there is a reasonable belief that such force is necessary. Forcible Felony. ” The law “expressly overrides any local regulations or policies inconsistent with its provisions,” Rickman wrote.

The DeKalb County Police Department’s use of force policy directs officers to “exhaust all available means of non-lethal force before using deadly force.” It also states that “any threat used to justify the use of deadly force must be immediate and there must be no other available remedies.”

Rickman, writing for the three-judge panel, noted that prosecutors could retry Olsen on the aggravated assault charge. But the opinion says the state cannot retry him for violating the oath because the violation is based on a violation of use-of-force policy.

Don Samuel, a lawyer for Mr. Olsen, 61, said he was “pleased” with the verdict.

“It was clear from the outset of the incident that the local police ‘use of force policy’ was not a document that would supersede state law, which applies to all incidents involving self-defense,” Samuel wrote in an email. Ta. “The Court of Appeals was right to fault the prosecutor for substituting the county’s policy for state law.”

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said she plans to appeal.

“We have worked tirelessly to hold Robert Olsen accountable for the death of Anthony Hill,” Boston said in an emailed statement. “While we respect the Court of Appeals, we completely disagree with its decision and intend to appeal this matter to the Georgia Supreme Court.”

Hill’s shooting sparked protests and calls for police accountability. In the days after his killing, more than 100 people gathered together in hopes that his killing would become part of the ongoing national conversation about police interactions with the public, especially people of color.

At trial, the manager of the apartment complex where Hill lived testified that on March 9, 2015, he saw Hill wearing only his underwear and acting strangely. She said Ms. Hill briefly returned to the apartment and then reappeared without her clothes on. The property manager called 911 three times.

Dispatch told Olsen there was a naked man who “may have dementia.” Witnesses said Hill was crouched in the roadway when Olsen arrived, then jumped up and ran toward the police car.

Olsen got out of the car and yelled, “Stop! Stop!” Witnesses said Hill did not stop and Olsen shot him twice.

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Prosecutors told jurors that Olsen used deadly force unreasonably and unnecessarily to deal with an unarmed, naked man who was in a mental health crisis. The defense argued Olsen acted in self-defense because he had limited information, his life was in danger and he had only seconds to make a difficult decision.