By Canadian Press

Officer who shot naked man in Georgia found not guilty

Oct 14, 2019 | 10:32 AM

DECATUR, Ga. — A former Georgia police officer who fatally shot an unarmed, naked man was found not guilty of murder on Monday.

Jurors did convict Robert “Chip” Olsen of aggravated assault, violation of oath of office and making a false statement. His wife began sobbing when she heard the verdict.

A judge was deliberating whether to grant bond for Olsen or keep him in custody until his sentencing on Nov. 1.

Olsen, now 57, was a DeKalb County police officer in March 2015 when he responded to a call of a naked man behaving erratically outside an Atlanta-area apartment complex. Shortly after arriving, he fatally shot 26-year-old Anthony Hill, an Air Force veteran who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder.

A grand jury indicted Olsen nearly a year after the shooting. Olsen is white and Hill was black.

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Monday’s verdict comes on the heels of a jury in Texas finding a white former Dallas police officer guilty of murder in the shooting death of a black man. Amber Guyger was returning home after a long shift when she shot Botham Jean. Guyger testified that she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own, which was one floor below, and that she thought he was a burglar in her home. She was convicted Oct. 1 and was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison.

A few days later, on Oct. 5, a jury in southeastern Georgia found a white former police officer who fatally shot a fleeing, unarmed black man not guilty on charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Jurors found Zechariah Presley guilty of violating his oath of office in the 2018 shooting of Tony Green in coastal Camden County, near the Georgia-Florida state line.

In the Olsen case, the apartment complex property manager testified that she saw Hill, a resident of the complex, wearing shorts but no shoes or shirt and behaving strangely on March 9, 2015. After maintenance workers got him to go to his apartment, he reemerged a short time later without any clothes.

The property manager, who testified that she was worried for Hill’s safety because he was behaving so bizarrely, called 911 three times.

Olsen was told by dispatch there was a naked man who was “possibly demented.” Hill was squatting in a roadway when Olsen arrived but jumped up and ran toward the patrol car, according to testimony from several witnesses.

Olsen exited his car and yelled, “Stop! Stop!” Hill didn’t stop, and Olsen shot him twice, witnesses said.

Prosecutors argued that Olsen unreasonably and unnecessarily used deadly force to deal with the unarmed, naked man who was suffering a mental health crisis. Defence attorneys countered that Olsen had limited information about the situation, was scared to death and had only seconds to make a tough decision.

During closing arguments, lawyers for both sides told jurors they needed to decide whether Olsen’s actions were reasonable given the situation.

Kate Brumback, The Associated Press