SANDERSVILLE, Georgia (AP) – An agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told jurors Monday that a man who died after being stopped by Washington County Sheriff’s deputies had not committed a crime and should have moved on.
Local news outlets report John Durden told jurors that then-deputies Henry Lee Copeland, Michael Howell and Rhett Scott were not authorized to stop or detain Eurie Martin in Deepstep, Georgia in 2017. The three former MPs, all white, are on trial for the murder of Martin, who was black, after repeatedly shocking him with electric batons.
“I don’t think there was a crime enough to stop it on reasonable suspicion,” said Durden, who was licensed as an expert in violence training.
Martin, 58, had been reported suspicious on an 911 call by a resident of Washington County, central Georgia, while taking a 50-kilometer walk to see relatives on a muggy July day. Howell and Copeland ordered Martin to stop walking on the pavement, put his hands on his head, and lie down.
“In your opinion, was Eurie Martin constitutionally entitled to continue?” Asked District Attorney Kelly Weathers.
“Yes,” said Durden.
The defense argues Martin walked the street illegally and took an aggressive stance towards MPs that was not recorded on the video of Martin’s death. Under cross-examination, Durden, based on photos, agreed with the defense that Martin had crossed the white line from the hard shoulder into the lane.
The jury was shown a 20-minute dash camera video of Martin’s arrest, including Martin’s screams and the hum of MPs’ stun guns. You can hear MPs giving orders to Martin.
Another GBI agent testified that Scott and Copeland repeatedly fired their stun guns over a four-minute period, giving electric doses of 19 seconds from Scott and 13 from Copeland. Martin got up and continued walking after being anesthetized the first time and then being anesthetized a second time.
The jury also heard 911 calls from the day Martin died, starting with a local resident telling dispatchers, “I let a guy walk by the side of the road who just walked into my yard. I don’t know where he was crazy, drunk or what. “
Washington County vice chairman Mark McGraw testified when interviewed by Weathers that MPs were trained to use only “objectively reasonable” force. Prosecutors argue that the MPs were in no danger and did not have to use force against Martin.
But defense attorney Shawn Merzlak argued the three were pursuing their training, and got McGraw to agree that MPs were trained that a stun gun is “a device that should be used over persistent techniques because it is the device that works on most likely to receive compliance “. without seriously injuring the suspect or the officer. “
Defense attorneys also got witnesses confirming that Washington County MPs are now receiving 50 hours of mental health training while the three MPs on trial were not given that instruction.
The trial comes after the Georgia Supreme Court denied a lower court ruling that MPs should be immune from prosecution. The chief judge H. Gibbs Flanders initially found that the use of force against Martin was justified according to Georgia’s view of your constitution. This law allows people to use force to defend themselves if they have a reasonable belief that they are in physical danger.
