Officer could face charges, or none
A former Columbus police officer might face criminal charges for shooting and killing an unarmed Black man in December, but whether he will and what those charges could be remain to be seen.
Former officer Adam Coy fatally shot 47-year-old Andre Hill at the entrance to a garage on the 1000 block of Oberlin Drive on the city’s Northwest Side around 2 a.m. Dec. 22.
Coy, who had been a police officer for 19 years, was fired on Dec. 28 by the city’s safety director.
An investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is ongoing. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which oversees BCI, has been appointed to review the investigation and handle any potential prosecution of Coy and other officers who responded.
Ric Simmons, a former prosecutor and the Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer Professor for the Administration of Justice and Rule of Law at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, said there are two charges that stick out as the most likely options if prosecutors determine criminal charges are
merited against Coy.
Simmons told The Dispatch that based on the known facts in the case to date, Coy could be charged with murder or reckless homicide.
But charging Coy wouldn’t necessarily mean he would ultimately be convicted, Simmons emphasized.
“Juries are reluctant to second guess split-second decisions of police officers,” he said.
Ohio law has six specific charges related to homicide: aggravated murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and negligent homicide. Unlike what is commonly portrayed on TV, there is no first- or second-degree murder in Ohio.
Each charge has specific requirements, called elements, that prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction.
Simmons said based on how Ohio’s laws are set up, prosecutors bringing any charges will have a difficult task to meet their burden of proof.
“The real issue is self-defense and whether that applies — whether the police officer believes, has a reasonable belief, that deadly force is justified,” Simmons said.
“The prosecutors have the burden of disproving that self-defense existed.”
The professor said not having the first 60 seconds of audio from the body cameras of Coy or the other responding officer, Amy Detweiler, because they did not turn them on until after the shooting, hurts prosecutors as well.
“We don’t know what the police officer said during that situation. Without that evidence, it’s hard to make the point that there was no risk of deadly force being used against him,” Simmons said. “How do you convince 12 jurors of this fact?”
The body cameras Columbus police use have a look-back feature that captures video, but not audio, of the 60 seconds immediately prior to the camera being turned on by the officer.
Coy and another officer who responded to the scene did not turn their cameras on until after the shooting occurred.
Simmons said he believes reckless homicide, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, is most likely to be the charge Coy might face if he faces any charges.
That charge requires “proving he misread the situation and believed deadly force would be used against him,” Simmons said.
“It’s easier to prove that when he shot the victim he was aware of the risk that it could kill the person. It would be harder to prove he shot with the purpose of killing him.”
A murder charge would require prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Coy had fired his weapon to intentionally kill Hill.
Simmons said there may not be any criminal charges filed against Coy or other officers for failing to render medical aid to Hill for several minutes after he was shot.
Ohio law does not have a specific charge for those who fail to act in aid of another.
“If I see you lying in the street dying, I have no legal duty to help you,” Simmons said. “There’s a moral duty. However, if the cause of the injury is my fault, it could create a duty to act on my part. Clearly, the officer did shoot him and that did create a duty to assist.”
Simmons said prosecutors would have to prove two things if they were to charge Coy with murder for failing to aid Hill — that the lack of aid was done purposefully to make sure Hill died and that the lack of aid contributed directly to Hill’s death.
“What they should have done is a totally different question,” Simmons said. “Ethically, it’s a terrible thing, but legally you have to prove these elements.”
If an autopsy determines that Hill’s life could have been saved by actions being taken sooner by responding officers, Simmons said they could be charged.
However, if the autopsy determines that rendering aid to Hill would not have saved his life, proving that charge is nearly impossible, Simmons said.
A decision on whether to charge Hill or any other officers for negligent homicide or another charge related to the lack of aid to Hill will depend on the findings of the autopsy conducted by the Franklin County Coroner’s Office, Simmons said. The final autopsy report is not expected to be complete for at least two months.
Even if criminal charges are not filed against some or any of the officers, Hill’s family could file a civil wrongful death lawsuit.
While police officers have qualified immunity in many civil cases, a protection that has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court, the standard of proof for Hill’s family would not be as great as in a criminal case.
Simmons said the standard to prove civil liability is a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning the majority of evidence, 51%, is in favor of Hill’s family, as opposed to the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.
Of the nearly two dozen officers who have been identified as responding to the scene in the minutes following the shooting, none rendered aid to Hill for at least six minutes.
At one point in the video, an officer who is not identified tells other officers to turn their body cameras off.
City officials have said there is an ongoing administrative investigation to determine what policies, if any, those officers and others violated by turning their cameras off and by not giving Hill medical attention.
All responding officers, with the exception of Detweiler, who was at the scene when the shooting took place, remain on their patrol assignments.
Detweiler has been given a 60-day administrative assignment while the internal investigation continues. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner
Murder charges in Ohio
Aggravated murder
The suspect must have done one or more of the following:
Acted with “prior calculation and design,” killed a child under the age of 13, killed someone while in the process of committing or trying to commit another felony like kidnapping, rape, arson or robbery, knowingly killed a law enforcement officer, first responder or member of the military, killed someone while in custody or incarcerated.
If convicted, a defendant could face 25 years to life, 30 years to life, life without the option of parole or a death sentence. Aggravated murder is the only charge that can result in a possible death sentence.
Murder
The suspect must have purposely caused the death of another or killed someone while committing a felony of the first or second degree, such as kidnapping, rape, robbery or burglary. This section of law is also called felony murder.
A conviction could result in a sentence of 15 years to life, in most cases.
Involuntary manslaughter
The suspect must have caused the death of another person while committing a felony of any degree or caused the death of another person while committing some misdemeanor crimes.
If a defendant is convicted, a judge has sentencing options that range from three to 11 years in prison or one to five years in prison, depending on the case specifics.
Voluntary manslaughter
The suspect must have knowingly caused the death of another “while under the influence of sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage, either of which is brought on by serious provocation occasioned by the victim that is reasonably sufficient to incite the person into using deadly force.”
A conviction could result in a sentence ranging from three to 11 years in prison.
Reckless homicide
The suspect must have recklessly caused the death of another person.
A conviction could result in a sentence of from one to five years in prison
Negligent homicide
The suspect must have acted with negligence with a deadly weapon, resulting in the death of another person.
A conviction could result in up to six months in jail.
NOTE: Prosecutors also have options to include specifications in indictments if a firearm is used, if the crime is sexually motivated, if the suspect has prior convictions for violent crimes or if the victim is a law enforcement officer. If a defendant is convicted, these specifications can add additional prison time to the above sentences, depending on the circumstances.