Ex-cop will stand trial for shooting unarmed veteran

Prosecutors probably cannot get to case until January at earliest.

It has been more than three years since unarmed Afghani- stan War veteran Anthony Hill was gunned down at a Chamblee apartment complex by a veteran DeKalb County police officer.

But until this week, there was no guarantee Robert Olsen would ever be tried, even though he was charged with murder in the death of the 27-year-old Hill. Olsen’s lawyers said he was acting in self-defense and were arguing for immunity that, if successful, would result in charges being dropped. Olsen, who was fired after the March 2015 fatal shooting, had “the right of an individual to act in self-defense, whether he’s in uniform or not,” defense attorney Don Samuel said.

After deliberating nearly three months, Judge J.P. Boulee rejected the defense’s argument, citing “conflicts in testimony” and the defendant’s credibility as factors.

Olsen’s defense team is likely to seek permission from Boulee to appeal, a request the judge is all but certain to reject since he wrote the decision.

All that remains, then, is select-

ing a trial date. And that won’t be as easy as it sounds.

Olsen’s attorneys, Samuel and Amanda Clark Palmer, have two cases that will take up much of the autumn. The first, said Samuel, begins after Labor Day and is expected to last up to six weeks. They have another case going to trial on Halloween that may finish by Thanksgiving. Holidays typically preclude December trial dates, particularly a highly charged case such as Olsen’s.

Samuel said a start date in January or February is most likely, although that could change if the case receives a new judge, a decent possibility since Boulee is on a short list to fill two upcoming vacancies on the Georgia Supreme Court.

Boulee’s ruling pointed out several vulnerabilities to Olsen’s defense.

The former officer failed to show that he reasonably believed deadly force was necessary in order to avoid death or serious bodily harm to himself or anyone else, the judge wrote.

“No evidence exists that defendant ever believed that Hill was about to kill him, and no witness testified that they thought Hill was capable of killing (Olsen),” he said.

Olsen’s inconsistent account of what happened that night could not be ignored, according to the judge.

He pointed to testimony by DeKalb Officer Lyn Anderson, who arrived on the scene moments after the shooting. Anderson testified that Olsen told her Hill had attacked him, though Olsen later acknowledged that never happened.

The judge also noted Olsen’s distinct size advantage over Hill — about 5 inches and 40 pounds.

“Importantly, Hill did not have any weapons and did not make any verbal threats towards defendant,” the judge concluded.

Anthony Hill, an unarmed veteran, was fatally shot by Robert Olsen in March 2015.

STAFF FILE 2018 Former DeKalb County Police Officer Robert Olsen (left) might not be brought to trial until January or February, and there could be further delays.