ATLANTA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has completed its investigation into the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks and turned it over to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
Brooks was shot and killed during a confrontation with Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe after falling asleep in the drive-thru line at an Atlanta Wendy’s in June.
Video showed Brooks running away from officers at the time he was shot.
His death sparked days of protests in the city.
Rolfe was fired from the department the day after the shooting. He was later charged with 11 counts, including felony murder and aggravated assault.
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The second officer on scene, Devin Brosnan, was charged with aggravated assault and violations of oath of office.
Some people, including Atlanta’s interim chief Rodney Bryant, criticized Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard for bringing charges against Rolfe before the GBI completed its investigation
“What we do want is a level of due process as it relates to how investigations are handled and how we’re criminally charged,” Bryant told Channel 2′s Mark Winne in July. “I think that anytime the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation and for us to get all the facts that’s, in our line of work, that’s what we have to do. We have to make sure that we have all the facts or enough facts to warrant charges.”
GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles says it is unusual that Howard charged the officers before their investigation was complete.
“The majority of the cases the GBI investigates, there is an investigation that is completed first then it is turned over to the district attorney,” she said.
The GBI’s thorough investigation looks into all aspects of the incident, from forensic evidence to the autopsy, but does not include a recommendation about what the DA should do.
“Agents go on a fact-finding mission to determine what happened,” she said.
Veteran Atlanta defense attorney Manny Arora says it’s strange that the GBI took only 24 hours to investigate Ahmaud Arbery, but 3 months for Rayshard Brooks.
But he says as a defense attorney, he’d be looking for any daylight between the DA’s investigation and the GBI’s.
“If this report comes back different than what the DA says, it essentially guts the whole prosecution,” he said.
Results of the investigation will not be made public until the criminal case is over.
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