ATLANTA — The U.S. Court of Appeals announced Tuesday it is reversing a previous ruling and two law enforcement officers may still face a civil trial in the death of Jamarion Robinson.
Robinson, a former college football player with no criminal record, was shot more than 75 times In August 2016 as officers attempted to arrest him on a fugitive warrant.
Officers were attempting to arrest him for attempted arson and aggravated assault of a police officer.
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The U.S. Marshals’ Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force tracked Robinson to his girlfriend’s apartment in East Point.
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Officers said he had a gun and refused to put it down.
Robinson’s mother, Monteria Robinson, said that her son was schizophrenic and was suffering from mental health issues.
Since her son’s death, Monteria Robinson has filed a civil suit, claiming the officers violated her son’s Fourth Amendment right by using excessive force. The lawsuit was initially dismissed after a judge ruled the officers had sovereign immunity.
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court reversed the prior ruling, saying the officers would not have had sovereign immunity on an unconscious victim.
The officers who shot Robinson, Clayton County Officer Kristofer Hutchens, Fulton County Detective Daniel Doyle and U.S. Marshal Eric Heinze, were charged with murder in 2021.
The appeals court ruled that there was no evidence that Clayton County Officer Kristofer Hutchens fired his weapon, so the case against him should be dismissed.
On the other hand, the appeals court said here was evidence to support that officers Daniel Doyle and Eric Heinze did fire their weapons.
Doyle died in 2020.
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That leaves Heinze to face a jury. Hutchens and Heinze both remain charged with murder. Both have pled not guilty.
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