DeKalb County Police Officer Robert Olsen shot and killed Anthony Hill, naked and unarmed at the time, outside a Chamblee apartment complex in March 2015
By Christian Boone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
January 22, 2016
ATLANTA -- For the first time in more than five years, a Georgia law enforcement officer will be prosecuted in the fatal shooting of a civilian.
After an eight-hour presentation by prosecutors, a grand jury on Thursday indicted DeKalb County Police Officer Robert Olsen on charges including felony murder, District Attorney Robert James announced. Olsen shot and killed Anthony Hill, naked and unarmed at the time, outside a Chamblee apartment complex in March 2015.
“This is a moment in history,” said attorney Christopher Chestnut, who represented Hill’s family. “Hopefully it will set a precedent discouraging paramilitary policing.”
Cheers and chanting erupted among protesters who had gathered outside the courthouse since Monday awaiting the grand jury’s decision.
Olsen was formally charged with two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, two counts of violating his oath of office and one count of making a false statement, James said Thursday night. He is accused of falsely claiming, to another officer, that Hill physically assaulted him prior to the shooting. James said a warrant for Olsen’s arrest had been issued.
In a statement, Olsen’s attorney Don Samuel said the prosecution failed to call witnesses who had told the police Hill was “attacking and charging” at the officer.
“The defense, of course, was not permitted to present any of the witnesses who were present at the scene, or any expert witnesses who would testify that Officer Olsen’s reaction to the threat of violent injury was reasonable,” Samuel said. “The defense could not cross-examine any of the prosecution witnesses at the grand jury.”
Samuel is a prominent Georgia defense attorney whose clients have included football stars Ray Lewis and Ben Roethlisberger and rapper T.I.
Olsen testified for 20 minutes Thursday, taking advantage of a special privilege, allowed only in Georgia, that lets officers present their case without cross-examination.
“He was not allowed to answer any questions from the jurors (or me, or the prosecutor) and was not allowed to introduce any evidence, even a diagram, or picture,” Samuel said. “Grand juries, in short, are not really fair fights. They are completely one-sided.”
Prosecutors have argued the opposite is true, at least in cases involving police.
Since 2010, Georgia law enforcement officers have been involved in 187 fatal shootings, according to a broad examination of police shootings in the state by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Olsen is just the second officer to be indicted; charges were dropped in the other case.
It’s unclear what Olsen told jurors this time around. Last fall, he told a civil grand jury that he believed Hill was high on PCP or bath salts and posed a threat to his safety.
“My job is to uphold the laws of Georgia and prosecute anyone who violates them. This case is no exception,” James said. “The facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Anthony Hill warranted felony murder charges.”
Hill’s family was greeted as conquering heroes by the 100 or so protesters — chanting “all six counts!” — who waited outside in the chilly rain.
“I’m on top of the world,” Hill’s girlfriend, Bridget Anderson, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She said she was confident an indictment was forthcoming because “it was such a blatant use of excessive force.”
Her late boyfriend’s character also played a role, she said.
“Everyone could see what a good person he was,” Anderson said.
Hill, 27, was an Air Force veteran of the war in Afghanistan who was diagnosed while in the service with bipolar disorder, his family has said.
“If they saw it with their heart, I knew they’d come to the right conclusion,” Hill’s mother, Carolyn Baylor-Giummo, said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Hopefully (the indictment) will at least send a message that if you do wrong you’re going to be held accountable for it.”
Her son’s shooting raised questions from the beginning. Olsen was dispatched to the Chamblee Heights Apartments after a neighbor called 911 to express concern after Hill had stripped naked, a reaction to medication he was taking, Anderson said.
When he noticed the officer, Hill began running toward him, slowing to a trot, witnesses say, when the officer ordered him to stop. After a second command to stop, Olsen shot Hill, who died at the scene.
Samuel said he believes his client will be exonerated.
“Officer Olsen is a distinguished member of the Police Department who has never been accused of using excessive force and has never previously discharged his firearm in the line of duty,” he said.
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