GA - Rayshard Brooks, 27, fatally shot by Police, Wendy’s lot, Atlanta, 12 Jun 2020 #2

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Where it stands: Rolfe was charged with felony murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault by now ex-District Attorney Paul Howard. The other officer involved on scene the night of Brooks' death, Devin Brosnan, was charged with aggravated assault.

Rolfe was fired by the Atlanta Police Department and is currently free on bond. As a condition of his bond, Rolfe is under a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. personal curfew. Brosnan remains employed with the police department.

The case against the two officers is in a complicated legal position. Newly elected Fulton County DA Fani Willis has tried to recuse herself from prosecuting the case - contending Howard treated the case improperly in pursuit of re-election, making it impossible for her office to now handle it - only to be rejected by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.

Whether she can recuse or not is now the subject of its own court proceeding, with Willis due to appear before a Fulton County judge early in May to make her case

Rayshard Brooks & Atlanta police force cases | Where they stand | 11alive.com
 
ADMIN REMINDER:

One of Websleuths most basic policies is that of being victim friendly. While members are free to have their own thoughts and are primarily free to offer their opinion, if that opinion is in direct contradiction to or not in the spirit of Websleuths policies or rules, it is not allowed to be posted here.

Please keep non victim friendly opinions to yourself, otherwise your comment will be removed and/or there may be a temporary or permanent loss of posting privileges.

Please post accordingly.

Thank you.

Before I post anything, can you define who all the victims are so I don't break any TOS? Thank you. <modsnip> TIA
 
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Before I post anything, can you define who all the victims are so I don't break any TOS? Thank you. <modsnip> TIA

The victim is the deceased, and by extension, the family members of both the deceased victim and the suspects/accused.
 
IMO, it’s obvious Howard never should have charged these officers. Now the new DA is stuck with a case that shouldn’t be a case, and a city likely to explode in riots (again) if she drops the charges. I wish her luck.

Just revisiting this case, due to recent OIS cases. ITA, that this case is now like the game of 'hot potato'. No one wants to come near it, let alone attempt to prosecute the LE involved, due to the abhorrent and total mishandling by the previous DA. Is it constitutionally legal/fair to keep charges on record, if a case does not move forward due to the (IMO) malfeasance of an elected official? Any legal opinions welcome, please.
 
Officer fired for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks, wants job back

ATLANTA — A former Atlanta police officer's attorney said Thursday that his client didn't get a chance to defend himself before he was fired for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who had been running away from two white officers after he resisted arrest and fired a stun gun at one of them.

Officer Garrett Rolfe was dismissed "without a proper investigation" by the city on June 13, one day after Brooks' death, Rolfe's attorney, Lance LoRusso, told the city's civil service board as he argued for his client's reinstatement to the force, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
 
LEO. Fired the Next Day?
Officer fired for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks, wants job back ATLANTA — A former Atlanta police officer's attorney said Thursday that his client didn't get a chance to defend himself before he was fired for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks.....
Officer Garrett Rolfe was dismissed "without a proper investigation" by the city on June 13, one day after Brooks' death, Rolfe's attorney....
@shotgun09 sbm bbm Thx for your post. Per link, LEO Rolfe testified -
- he did not authorize police union official Ken Allen to represent him at the hearing.
- He did not learn of 'employee response hearing' until same day 3:45 pm, when he was more than an hour outside the city at the time.
"... Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she believed Rolfe should be fired immediately... Sgt. William Dean, an internal affairs investigator, said the June hearing about Rolfe's employment status was moved up to accommodate a 5 p.m. news conference by the mayor announcing his termination.

If info at link is true, this LEO had (virtually) no notice of hearing & had no authorized representation/ atty at hearing {ETA: before he was fired}.

Well, sure, as long as terminating LEO did not delay mayor's presser announcing LEO's firing. /sarc No prob.
 
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LEO. Fired the Next Day?
@shotgun09 sbm bbm Thx for your post. Per link, LEO Rolfe testified -
- he did not authorize police union official Ken Allen to represent him at the hearing.
- He did not learn of 'employee response hearing' until same day 3:45 pm, when he was more than an hour outside the city at the time.
"... Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she believed Rolfe should be fired immediately... Sgt. William Dean, an internal affairs investigator, said the June hearing about Rolfe's employment status was moved up to accommodate a 5 p.m. news conference by the mayor announcing his termination.

If info at link is true, this LEO had (virtually) no notice of hearing & had no authorized representation/ atty at hearing {ETA: before he was fired}.

Well, sure, as long as terminating LEO did not delay mayor's presser announcing LEO's firing. /sarc No prob.

The entire legal process in this case was done with such a rush to judgement, with a rush to the cameras first, as a back drop. Understandably, tensions were extreme in Atlanta at that time. However, IMO in doing that, along with the DA probably over-charging the LE officers BEFORE the GBI was even finished with their investigation, the case will fall flat. And, IMO no one wants to touch this case. The new DA IMO, has like thrown her hands up in the air, and is likely thinking...." not my monkey...not my circus". Because, IMO that is exactly what has become of this case.
 
Nothing here indicates to me how she feels about this case.
The article DOES say she wants to find someone who isn’t biased for or against the police. It DOES say she doesn’t want cases dragging on forever.
Based on this article I’d say Howard was anti police, charging cops but never finishing a case.
Sounds like the new DA has a lot of cleaning up to do.

I agree totally SugarQueen. Although this case is cut and dried. He stole the officer's gun, he was not following commands, so what were they supposed to do? It's not like they could let him go and pretend it didn't happen.
 
This article is from earlier this month, but describes a bit more in detail where/what the quagmire is.

Judge wants answers from Fulton DA in Rayshard Brooks case

"Fulton County’s chief judge has ordered District Attorney Fani Willis to produce evidence that shows why she believes her office should not prosecute the case against two Atlanta police officers charged in the June 2020 shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.

In an order signed Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher gave Willis until May 3 to comply with his directive. He said he will review the information in private, and perhaps allow defense attorneys to see some of it, before he decides whether the DA’s Office should be disqualified.

Noah Pines, one of Rolfe’s lawyers, said that while he believes Willis’ decision to disqualify her office should be the final word on the matter, he looks forward to Brasher’s review.

“More than that, we hope that the district attorney will release the GBI report on this shooting,” Pines said. “Judge Brasher, the public and Garrett Rolfe all have the right to know what this independent investigation found. And learning what Paul Howard knew, and when he knew it, as he made repeated misstatements to the public, will shed light on the ethical quagmire at the heart of this case.”
 
This article is from earlier this month, but describes a bit more in detail where/what the quagmire is.

Judge wants answers from Fulton DA in Rayshard Brooks case

"Fulton County’s chief judge has ordered District Attorney Fani Willis to produce evidence that shows why she believes her office should not prosecute the case against two Atlanta police officers charged in the June 2020 shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.

In an order signed Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher gave Willis until May 3 to comply with his directive. He said he will review the information in private, and perhaps allow defense attorneys to see some of it, before he decides whether the DA’s Office should be disqualified.

Noah Pines, one of Rolfe’s lawyers, said that while he believes Willis’ decision to disqualify her office should be the final word on the matter, he looks forward to Brasher’s review.

“More than that, we hope that the district attorney will release the GBI report on this shooting,” Pines said. “Judge Brasher, the public and Garrett Rolfe all have the right to know what this independent investigation found. And learning what Paul Howard knew, and when he knew it, as he made repeated misstatements to the public, will shed light on the ethical quagmire at the heart of this case.”
Paul Howard will be one of the biggest reasons this case doesn't go anywhere. He completely mishandled this entire case. From the rush to charge, to the press conference where he basically made himself look incompetent multiple times. Too many statements where he contradicted himself, lied or made many statements that didn't go along with what was on video. He took a case that was already going to be very tough to prosecute and made it nearly impossible to do so
 
Paul Howard will be one of the biggest reasons this case doesn't go anywhere. He completely mishandled this entire case. From the rush to charge, to the press conference where he basically made himself look incompetent multiple times. Too many statements where he contradicted himself, lied or made many statements that didn't go along with what was on video. He took a case that was already going to be very tough to prosecute and made it nearly impossible to do so

I absolutely agree with your statement. IMO,The hastily put-together press conference was a disaster for Howard, proving him not worthy of re-election per the citizens of GA. The new DA, doesn't want the dirty and tainted sand that was left in her sandbox...thanks to Howard. But, she has to deal with this mess. The people of Atlanta, the Brooks family, and the LE charged deserve it.
 
I absolutely agree with your statement. IMO,The hastily put-together press conference was a disaster for Howard, proving him not worthy of re-election per the citizens of GA. The new DA, doesn't want the dirty and tainted sand that was left in her sandbox...thanks to Howard. But, she has to deal with this mess. The people of Atlanta, the Brooks family, and the LE charged deserve it.
yeah that PC pretty much sealed his fate. IMO it was done to try and take the heat off of him and what he was dealing with and put the focus on someone else. Him downplaying Brooks actions and then the complete 180 on the taser issue was a dead giveaway.

She's definitely trying to deal with it the right way. She knows how bad Howard screwed things up and how tainted the case is due to his actions. I'm still surprised the judge is asking for information from her as to why they shouldn't be prosecuting the case
 
If this case goes to trial against officers, I see NO REASON why anyone would NOT try to flee from being arrested. The guy TOOK A TASER off an officer. He had SO MANY CHANCES. They were SO POLITE in the beginning. I fear it needs to go back to arrest first, ask questions later. Seems like giving an inch, those miles are being taken very liberally. Had he been handcuffed and put in a cruiser the first 5 minutes, he'd still be alive. MOO
 

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