Grand jury declines to indict former Atlanta police officer in church deacon's death
After hearing the case, Fulton County grand jurors rejected criminal charges against Kiran Kimbrough, said Jeff DiSantis, a spokesperson for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Johnny Hollman Sr. died in August 2023 after he refused to sign a citation following a wreck. Family members said the 62-year-old Hollman was driving home from Bible study at his daughter's house and taking dinner to his wife when he collided with another vehicle while turning across a busy street just west of downtown.
Body camera video of Hollman's arrest shows Kimbrough repeatedly demanding that Hollman sign the citation, while Hollman insists he did nothing wrong. The two men tussled and Hollman ended up face down on the ground with Kimbrough over him, pressing him down. Holloman repeatedly says 'I can't breathe,' and Kimbrough uses a Taser to shock him repeatedly. The video also shows a tow truck driver helping Kimbrough.
Hollman became unresponsive and was declared dead at a hospital. An autopsy determined the death was a homicide, with heart disease also a contributing factor.
Lance LoRusso, who represents Kimbrough, said prosecutors sought to indict his client for one count of manslaughter, one count of simple battery and three counts of violating his oath of office. Kimbrough testified before the grand jury, as is an officer's right under state law, LoRusso said.
'While Johnny Hollman's death was tragic, in no way did Kiran Kimbrough cause the death,' LoRusso said in a statement Monday. 'Johnny Hollman's death was caused by medical complications and his felonious, unlawful resistance of a uniformed officer performing his lawful duties.'
DiSantis said Willis is conferring with prosecutors and investigators about whether to ask a new grand jury to indict Kimbrough.
Hollman's family members have repeatedly called for the former officer to be criminally charged.
A statement from lawyers attributed to the family said they were 'devastated' by the grand jury's decision not to indict.
'The failure to hold this officer accountable is another painful reminder of how little value is placed on his life by some citizens,' the statement said. 'Our faith and our fight for justice will not waver.'
Atlanta officials fired Kimbrough, saying he should have agreed to Hollman's request to speak to a supervisor. A civil service board upheld the firing, and the Atlanta City Council agreed to settle a lawsuit by Hollman's family alleging excessive force for $3.8 million. The family also sued the tow truck driver and his employer, saying the driver straddled Hollman's head and neck for at least 20 seconds and appeared to 'sit with his full body weight' on Hollman's head and neck while Kimbrough handcuffed Hollman.
Atlanta and some other police departments have enacted policies saying that officers should no longer arrest people who refused to sign citations. State lawmakers passed a bill that would have enacted such a policy statewide earlier this year, but Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed it because he opposed a provision unrelated to collecting signatures from people named on citations.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
20 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Epstein's ex, Ghislaine Maxwell, doesn't want grand jury transcripts released
NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein 's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, wants to keep grand jury records secret in the sex trafficking case that sent her to prison, her lawyers said Tuesday as prosecutors continued urging a court to release some of those records in the criminal case-turned-political fireball. Maxwell hasn't seen the material herself, her attorneys said — the grand jury process is conducted behind closed doors. But she opposes unsealing what her lawyers described as potentially 'hearsay-laden' transcripts of grand jury testimony, which was given in secret and without her lawyers there to challenge it. 'Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable and her due process rights remain,' attorneys David O. Markus and Melissa Madrigal wrote. A message seeking comment from prosecutors was not immediately returned. Government attorneys have been trying to quell a clamor for transparency by seeking the transcripts' release — though the government also says the public already knows much of what's in the documents. Most of the information 'was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,' prosecutors wrote in court papers Monday. They noted that the disclosures excluded some victims' and witnesses' names. Prosecutors had also said last week that some of what the grand jurors heard eventually came out at Maxwell's 2021 trial and in various victims' lawsuits. There were only two grand jury witnesses, both of them law enforcement officials, prosecutors said. Prosecutors made clear Monday that they're seeking to unseal only the transcripts of grand jury witnesses' testimony, not the exhibits that accompanied it. But they are also working to parse how much of the exhibits also became public record over the years. While prosecutors have sought to temper expectations about any new revelations from the grand jury proceedings, they aren't proposing to release a cache of other information the government collected while looking into Epstein. The filing aimed to support their request to release the usually secret records amid a public clamor for more transparency about the investigation into Epstein, six years after the financier died in prison. Maxwell, his former girlfriend, was later convicted of helping him prey on underage girls. The transcript face-off comes six years after authorities said Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges and four years after Maxwell was convicted. Some of President Donald Trump's allies spent years suggesting there was more to the Epstein saga than met the eye and calling for more disclosures. A few got powerful positions in Trump's Justice Department — and then faced backlash after it abruptly announced that nothing more would be released and that a long-rumored Epstein 'client list' doesn't exist. After trying unsuccessfully to change the subject and denigrating his own supporters for staying interested in Epstein, the Republican president told Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask courts to unseal the grand jury transcripts in the case.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nigerian customs seize over 1,600 parrots and canaries in major wildlife trafficking bust
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian customs said they seized more than 1,600 parrots and canaries that were being transported from Lagos international airport to Kuwait without a permit, in one the biggest wildlife trafficking seizures in years. The seizure is a sign of positive change in the fight against illegal wildlife trade, as Nigeria is a major hub in the global trade in protected species, Mark Ofua, West Africa spokesperson for the international non-governmental organization Wild Africa, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Customs agents seized ring-necked parakeets and green and yellow fronted canaries, two protected species, at the airport on July 31, the agency said in a statement late Monday. Nigeria is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. The statement by the customs agency said the shipment were not accompanied by a CITES permit and other documents required to prove the birds were legally obtained. Nigerian customs said an investigation to find those responsible for the illicit cargo is ongoing, and that the birds will be handed to the National Parks Service for rehabilitation and release into the wild. Ofua said Nigeria's porous borders, widespread corruption, and weak enforcement make it a key transit point for ivory, pangolin scales and other wildlife products destined for Asia. Global illegal wildlife trafficking is valued at $8–10 billion annually, he added.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Violent crime in the US dropped 4.5% last year, FBI data shows
WASHINGTON (AP) — Violent crime in the United States fell 4.5% last year, according to a new FBI report, which also shows an 8% drop in property crime from the year before. The FBI statistics released Tuesday show murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in the U.S. in 2024 fell nearly 15% from a year earlier, continuing a decline that's been seen since a coronavirus pandemic-era crime spike. Reported hate crimes decreased 1.5%, according to the report. Despite that slight decrease, last year's hate crime totals were the second highest reported by the FBI in the more than 30 years it has been collecting data, according to Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and professor emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino. Crime surged during the coronavirus pandemic, with homicides increasing nearly 30% in 2020 over the previous year, the largest one-year jump since the FBI began keeping records. Violent crime across the U.S. dipped to near pre-pandemic levels around 2022. The FBI collects data through its Uniform Crime Reporting Program, and not all law enforcement agencies in the U.S. participate. The 2024 report is based on data from more than 16,000 agencies, or more than 86% of those agencies in the FBI's program. The agencies included in the report protect more than 325 million people across the U.S.
