The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Next Fulton DA vows faster action on shootings
Forty-three use of force cases still unresolved under outgoing DA.
She’s tried to shield her from the circumstances of her father’s death, but Tyvonna Phillips suspects her 9-year-old granddaughter knows what happened the night nearly four years ago outside an Atlanta Police Department annex.
“She’s always writing in her journal about her daddy,” Phillips said. “It’s so sad.”
The little girl was just 5 years old when her father, DeAundre Phillips, 24, was killed following an altercation with Atlanta police Officer Yasin Abdulahad. Nearly four years later, the case remains in limbo.
It’s one of 43 police use of force investigations that remain
unresolved under outgoing Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard. Some date as far back as 2016. According to Atlanta police, Phillips tried to flee the annex on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway in a friend’s car after being questioned by Abdulahad, who said he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle.
Portions of Abdulahad’s account were later contradicted by surveillance video. The GBI found a small amount of marijuana inside the vehicle, but it had not been lit, said Atlanta lawyer Chris Stewart, who represents Phillips’ family.
“No investigation should ever take that long,” he said. Stewart is also the lead attorney for the family of Rayshard Brooks, fatally shot in a Wendy’s parking lot after fighting with police trying to arrest him for a suspected DUI.
The juxtaposition of those two cases emerged as major issue in last month’s Democratic runoff for Fulton DA. Garrett Rolfe, the since-fired officer who shot Brooks, was charged with felony murder and other charges less than one week after the incident. The GBI, which handles officer-involved shootings, hasn’t completed its investigation and was surprised when Howard announced he was bringing charges.
“How could (Howard) decide to charge that officer so fast, and almost four years later he still hasn’t done anything with my son’s case?” Tyvonna Phillips said. “It makes me so mad.”
A 2018 investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that of the 28 APD officers under investigation by the district attorney, 20 cases, mostly shootings of civilians, were unresolved. Five cases dated back to 2014.
Howard’s swift action in the Brooks case renewed attention to the pending cases. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she hoped justice would be served “not only for the family of Mr. Brooks, but for the victims and families of the other use-of-force cases waiting to be resolved by the district attorney.”
Howard said video of the Brooks shooting made it easier for investigators to assess the case. He’s noted that no such video exists of the moment Abdulahad shot Phillips.
A new approach
Fani Willis, who trounced her former boss in the runoff and faces no Republican opposition, said the Public Integrity Unit, which handles police shooting cases, will be a top priority once she becomes district attorney in January. She plans to bring in an entirely new team of lawyers and investigators to a re-branded anti-corruption unit. A nationwide search is underway to find a prosecutor to lead the team.
“We want to find someone who does not have a bias for or against the police,” said Willis, who was endorsed by the Atlanta police union. She vowed most charging decisions in use of force investigations will be decided within a year. She’s set a deadline of two years for the more complex cases.
“Evidence is more difficult to locate. Witnesses are harder to find,” she said, noting that the longer a case sits, the harder it is prosecute.
Struggling to heal
Monteria Robinson has been waiting for 49 months. Her son, Jamarion, was shot at 76 times inside his girlfriend’s East Point apartment in August 2016 by a fugitive task force made up of local law enforcement and federal authorities.
Robinson said Howard “failed my family” after promising to indict the officers involved. Howard said the investigation was hamstrung by the refusal of officers to cooperate and the absence of bodycam footage.
“My son’s body is all the bodycam you need,” Robinson said. “I wake up every day with anxiety. I’ve been in fight mode ever since my son was killed. I want closure.”
Phillips said the wait has made it difficult for her to maintain any faith in the justice system. Both mothers said Howard rarely communicated with them. Phillips recalled him canceling a meeting with her family “because it was raining outside.”
Willis met with Robinson, Phillips and other family members of victims of police shootings during the campaign and vowed greater transparency.
“A lot of them felt like they weren’t kept in the loop during the process. They felt disrespected,” she said. “We owe them better than that.”
Administrative duty
For the officers facing prosecutorial scrutiny, drawn-out investigations bring their own set of challenges.
Most end up on administrative duty as they await resolution. Their careers are put on hold, and the stress can be traumatic, said Marietta attorney Lance LoRusso, who has represented several officers under investigation by Howard’s office.
“I’ve had cases where the officer retired without knowing whether he was going to be charged or not,” LoRusso said. “The prospect of an indictment hanging over your head is a horrible thing.”
An open investigation not only takes an officer off the street but prevents that person from seeking employment elsewhere, he said. Careers are stalled. Reputations are sullied. Nerves frayed.
“I’ve had officers wait four years on a violation of oath of office investigation,” LoRusso said. “It’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s not good for the families. Not good for the public and not good for the officers.”