ATLANTA — A former prosecutor and current criminal defense attorney said Tuesday’s decision in the Rayshard Brooks case shows a glaring disparity in the legal system.
More than two years after video captured the violent confrontation between Rayshard Brooks and Atlanta Police officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan, special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis announced they would move to have all criminal charges against the two officers dropped.
Channel 2′s Richard Elliot was live outside the state Capitol Tuesday, where he talked with that attorney, who said other defendants should get that same kind of thorough investigation.
The investigation into this case took more than two years.
The special prosecutor said it was very thorough.
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Channel 2 spoke with Fulton County prosecutor and current criminal defense attorney Manny Arora, who didn’t necessarily dispute the findings. He just wished more defendants in Georgia got the same kind of thorough investigations.
“Certainly, from a fairness point of view, I wish they would put this much effort into every case,” Arora said.
He says all the videos and multiple witness interviews show that Brooks was the aggressor and that Rolfe’s use of deadly force that night was justified under Georgia law.
While he took issue with some of their findings, he didn’t necessarily dispute their conclusions.
Instead, he pointed out that most defendants do not get the kind of deep, months-long investigations that the two police officers got in this case, and that, he believes, isn’t fair to others who also may claim self-defense.
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“While I have no reason to quarrel with what they’re saying and may not like it, it just shows you the unfairness in the justice system depending on which side you are on, if you have a badge or if you are just a defendant,” Arora said.
Skandalakis says he’ll move to have those charges dropped against the two officers.
This doesn’t mean the officers are necessarily off the hook, though.
The federal government could always come in and charge them with civil rights violations, but Arora said that given the special prosecutor’s conclusions, that probably wouldn’t happen.
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