A Fulton County judge ruled that former Atlanta police officer Raymond Bunn fired in self-defense in 2002 when he shot a teen driving an SUV that struck the officer.
The judge in this case is a former Atlanta cop himself according to family members of the victim.
Now the family of the man killed, 18-year-old Corey Ward, is asking the community to help send a message to that judge.
"A lot of faith has been lost in the justice system," Ward's paternal grandmother, Avis Jones, said Wednesday evening outside the Fulton County courthouse. "Where else can we turn?"
Judge Henry Newkirk’s decision was based on a 2006 law that allows a judge to rule on a self-defense claim before the case is taken to trial and a jury.
With the aid of Atlanta activist the Rev. Markel Hutchins, Ward's family is asking people to join them Thursday evening outside the courthouse to protest Newkirk's ruling.
"He has arbitrarily decided to only increase this family's pain and their horror by dismissing the charges against Raymond Bunn," Hutchinson said of Newkirk, as Ward's friends and family huddled outside the courthouse in a show of solidarity. "He has undone the great sacrifice, the time and effort the district attorney’s office has put into this case."
Bunn’s lawyer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday that justice was served, but the grandmother of the shooting victim said a killer was “let off on a technicality.”
There had been a rash of car break-ins in the Buckhead bar district that summer. According to reports of the shooting, Bunn and his partner were patrolling in an unmarked car when they heard glass breaking and a car alarm. They saw a man get out of a Buick SUV with a broken window and jump into the back seat of a Chevy Tahoe driven by Ward.
The officers, both wearing dark shirts with the words “Atlanta police” on the front and back, ordered Ward, the driver, to stop.
The SUV continued forward.
The partner, Terry Mulkey, got out of the way, but the Tahoe bumped Bunn and Bunn shot, hitting Ward in the head.
The Tahoe belonged to Ward’s mother.
More than three years later, on Dec. 2, 2005, Bunn was indicted for murder.
The shooting during the early morning hours of July 14, 2002, polarized the community then and is still sprouting claims that decisions were made based on politics.
When she heard Newkirk’s decision, Judy Arnold-Atkins, Ward’s maternal grandmother, said “it was like a bomb went off inside. It’s taken seven years, almost eight.
“I don’t know how he
came up with the facts to say he was justified in the shooting because he’s never heard the case," Arnold-Atkins said. “I just think it’s political to let someone off on a technicality for murder when he had been indicted. I’m asking Paul Howard and his office to please do an appeal.”
full article. http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/family-protests-dismissal-of-344348.html
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I can't ever remember a judge tossing out a murder conviction, after an indictment, without even one day of trial. This is disturbing in many way, not the least of which sets a precedent that could allow judges to use their own opinions of the case, without all the facts, to determine whether a person should stand trial for murder (the gravest of offenses)
Family members and community leaders took to the streets last night with many residents of the city to protest this awful decision made by the judge in this case. Among other things, they are asking that Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard file an appeal. Howards office has stated that they will file an appeal, but gave very few details about when that appeal was to take place. 
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