The Dekalb County officer’s conviction was just turned over nine years after killing a Black man.
Shock and anger follow the latest development in the case against a Georgia officer who was convicted in the fatal shooting of a Black veteran suffering a mental crisis.
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Dekalb County Officer Robert Chip Olsen will have his conviction overturned. The decision comes nine years after he shot and killed Anthony Hill, an Air Force veteran. Hill was reported to have been suffering a mental episode, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD following his time in the service, his family told 11Alive News.
The day of the shooting, he wasn’t actively taking his medication and was acting strangely outside his home. Neighbors in the complex called the police looking to get him help, but we know how most mental health checks go when the cops are involved.
Video footage of the moments before the shooting shows Hill naked and appearing to be in distress as he ran toward the officer. Oslen is accused of firing two shots at Hill, who died on the scene.
Olsen was convicted of aggravated assault, violation of oath of public office and making false statements despite his self-defense claims. Now, he’s set to be free.
“We reverse Olsen’s convictions on aggravated assault and violation of oath by a public officer based upon a violation of the (DeKalb County Police Department’s Use of Force Policy),” the court said in its ruling Tuesday. “We conclude further that, although the evidence was legally sufficient to sustain Olsen’s conviction on aggravated assault such that he may be retried on that count should the State opt to do so, the evidence was legally insufficient with respect to the crime of violation of oath by a public officer based upon a violation of the UFP.”
Tuesday’s ruling said certain parts of the county’s use of force policy conflict with Georgia’s law governing self-defense, making the county’s provisions “null, void and of no force or effect to the criminal charges lodges against (Olsen),” the opinion said.
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Hill’s sister, Tamara Giummo, said she was shocked to get a call from the Dekalb County District Attorney’s Office to learn that the man who killed her brother will see his freedom.
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“It just brings back the feelings of losing [Anthony], like pulling off a scab of a wound you just won’t let heal,” Giummo said. “He was supposed to have help, and this happened to him. He deserves justice.”
