Conflicts with DeKalb police policy may have led to officer’s conviction in man’s death overturning

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A former police officer serving prison time after shooting and killing a mentally ill veteran has had his conviction overturned.

The Georgia Court of Appeals announced Tuesday the decision to overturn a lower court’s ruling against for police officer Robert Chip Olsen, who shot and killed Anthony Hill at a DeKalb County apartment complex.

In 2019, Olsen was sentenced on Friday to 20 years, with 12 to serve in prison in Hill’s death but was found not guilty of murder.

The appeals court says DeKalb County police’s use of force policy and the state’s self-defense law conflict with one another.

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Channel 2′s Tom Jones sat down with a defense attorney on Wednesday to break down what happened.

Former prosecutor and current criminal defense attorney Marsha Mignott believes the Court of Appeals got it right when it ruled to overturn Olsen’s conviction. She says the court ruled the trial court was wrong to allow evidence that conflicted with Georgia law.

“The Court of Appeals is saying no rule, no policy, no governance, nothing. No municipality can set any laws or rules in place that conflict with state law,” she explained.

The appeals court said the trial court did that when evidence was presented to the jury that Olsen violated the department’s use of force policy that conflicts with Georgia’s law governing self-defense.

The use of force policy requires the officer to come up with other means before using deadly force. Mignott says Georgia’s self-defense law sets a lower standard.

“That does not require you to have to do anything,” except believe the officer reasonably believes he or others are in imminent danger, she says.

The court has now reversed his convictions for aggravated assault and violation of oath of office.

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Testimony indicated that the U.S. Air Force veteran was naked and ran toward Olsen when he was shot.

Mignott wonders why the state even introduced the use of force policy as evidence given the circumstances of the case.

“The state had enough, in my opinion, to have convicted this officer without the use of force policy,” she said.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said her office disagrees with the ruling and will appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

The jury found Olsen not guilty of Murder in this case. Olsen was also sentenced to probation for violating his oath after making false statements. He did not challenge that conviction.

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Former officer who shot, killed unarmed Black man in 2015 has conviction overturned Anthony Hill, 26, had stopped taking his meds and had stripped off his clothes when he encountered Olsen in the parking lot.

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