DECATUR, Ga. — Activists who’s hoped for a murder conviction told 11Alive after the Robert Olsen trial they nonetheless felt the jury held the ex-DeKalb County Police officer accountable for the killing of Anthony Hill.
It was a classic compromise verdict from a jury that spent days trying to reach agreement. Most jurors we saw leaving the courthouse declined to discuss their deliberations; however, one man told reporters jurors compromised to avoid a deadlock.
In front of the courthouse, activists held vigil as they’d done since the start of the trial. They openly sought a murder conviction.
The jury didn’t convict Olsen of the murder or felony murder charges he faced, but they did convict him of aggravated assault. Two activists told us that was sufficient accountability.
"I think they held him accountable, but at the end of the day, you know, both families suffered," said Charles Short, an Air Force veteran who gave moral support to the family of Hill at the courthouse. "(The jury) worked hard. They deliberated. It was a hard decision to make."
Gerald Griggs, an attorney and vice chair of the state NAACP, said he'd preferred a murder conviction, but believes the aggravated assault conviction would work.
"Hopefully he will be held accountable at least for aggravated assault. I mean, that’s shooting another individual, which typically requires prison time," Griggs said.
Demonstrators gathered on the steps of the DeKalb County the same evening that the verdict was delivered. They said although there was a conviction, it doesn't ease the pain.
"We did everything to bring justice for Anthony Hill," one activist said, before referencing several other instances of claimed injustice.
"There should be thousands of people in front of this court right now, demanding justice in this country. Because if we don't get no justice in this country right now, we will shut down this country and we will vote them out."
The judge, who granted Olsen bond after conviction, has the leeway to sentence Hill to anything from probation to 35 years in prison.
The judge will make that decision in November. Activists promised they would be watching.
"If she don't do the right thing November the first, we will vote her out," one person vowed.
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