10Kill cop has $500G bail
Judge rules after vic’s widow pleads to keep him jailed
The former police officer charged with murdering Rayshard Brooks outside an Atlanta Wendy’s had his bond set at $500,000 Tuesday with conditions including an ankle monitor and curfew.
Garrett Rolfe, 27, was given the chance to walk out of jail if he posts the amount, surrenders his passport and agrees to all court-ordered conditions, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick ruled.
After a 90-minute hearing, Barwick said she saw “sufficient” evidence Rolfe is not a flight risk or danger to the community.
Before the decision, Rolfe’s defense lawyers asked for a much lower $50,000 bail, while Brooks’ widow made an impassioned plea to keep the ex-cop locked up.
“My husband wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t deserve to die,” widow Tomika Miller said during the Tuesday hearing held via Zoom.
“I feel like he had complete disregard for my husband’s life or any other body standing out there. There were three shots fired and only two entered my husband,” she said.
“I can’t sleep at night because I’m scared. And if he’s released, I can only imagine where my mental state will be. I will be so scared,” she said.
“Ms. Miller, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for speaking with us today. And I heard you,” Barwick said.
Rolfe’s defense lawyers Noah Pines and William Thomas Jr. called their client a well-liked officer with “tremendous ties” to the community and no criminal record before he was fired following Brooks’ death.
“Officer Rolfe is not a threat. He’s not a danger to the community,” Thomas argued. “He’s anxious to begin the process of defending this matter.”
Rolfe was being held in neighboring Gwinnett County for his own protection ahead of the hearing, officials previously told the Daily News.
Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Clinton Rucker argued against the bond request, saying Rolfe’s decision to shoot Brooks twice in the back outside the Wendy’s June 12 “was not justified.”
He said one bullet entered Brooks’ back “one inch to the left of his spine” while the other entered his left buttocks and exited his front “right above his pubic area.”
“He waited for his back to turn before he shot him. It doesn’t sound like g good character to me,” Rucker said. “The video doesn’t lie.”
He said Rolfe has received “upward of $250,000 in cash donations” which he could possibly use to flee the jurisdiction.
He also called Rolfe “a significant risk to intimidate or influence witnesses,” saying the former officer used his cell phone to exchange “multiple text messages” with four Atlanta police officers “in the minutes after this incident.”
Rucker said the defense has not provided the passcode to Rolfe’s phone, so prosecutors haven’t been able to review the content of the text messages.
He said if the court decided to grant bond, prosecutors wanted it set at $1 million with conditions including an ankle monitor, a curfew and the production of Rolfe’s phone passcode.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard filed 11 charges against Rolfe on June 17, including felony murder. If convicted of the top offense, Rolfe could face up to life without parole or the death penalty.
Rolfe was summoned to the Wendy’s by fellow officer Devin Brosnan after Brooks fell asleep in the restaurant’s drive-through lane and someone called 911.
Brooks, 27, was “cooperative” and “jovial” as he talked with the officers for more than 41 minutes, Howard said. He allowed Rolfe to pat him down and submitted to a field sobriety test.
The DA said Rolfe did not properly inform Brooks that he was being arrested when he “grabbed” Brooks to handcuff him, sparking a struggle.
Brooks managed to seize one of the officers’ stun guns during a scuffle and fired it as he ran away, video of the incident shows.
Howard said the investigation concluded Rolfe knew the Taser in Brooks’ possession had been fired twice and “presented no danger to him or any other persons” when he opened fire with his 9-mm. Glock.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner ruled Brooks’ death a homicide, saying he died from two gunshot wounds to his back.