SANDERSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Three former Georgia sheriff’s deputies have been found not guilty of murder in the death of a Black man who raised a white homeowner’s suspicions by asking for a drink of water while walking through a small Georgia town.
Eurie Martin, 58, was repeatedly shocked with Tasers after he refused to answer their questions. Henry Lee Copeland, Michael Howell and Rhett Scott said he was walking illegally in the road, littered by dropping a soda can and aggressively refused to follow their commands.
After eight years and two trials, the jury verdicts late Thursday also cleared all three of aggravated assault. Scott was acquitted on all charges, but jurors deadlocked on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct against Copeland and Howell. A mistrial in 2021 had ended in a deadlock on all counts.
“We’re elated,” Karen Scott said after her son Rhett was finally cleared. “Sorry for the Martin family, but we are just elated.”
Attorney and civil rights activist Francys Johnson is still pursuing a lawsuit in federal court on the family’s behalf. “As a free man in this country, he should have been able to walk home,” Johnson said.
“After eight long years, I’m just very disappointed,” said Martin’s sister Helen Gilbert.
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The local district attorney had recused himself from the second trial, citing a conflict, and prosecution was passed to Don Kelley, the district attorney in Columbus. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, said Friday that Kelley would have to decide whether to seek a third trial of Copeland and Howell on the involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct charges.
Martin had been walking through the town of Deepstep in 95-degree heat in July 2017, taking a 30-mile (50-kilometer) journey to see his relatives for his birthday. Trial testimony showed he was under considerable stress from the heat, had a preexisting weakened heart and was dehydrated. He also had been treated for schizoaffective disorder, his family said. The trial was covered by Georgia Public Broadcasting and WMAZ.
The homeowner who alerted authorities, Cyrus Harris Jr., testified about seeing Martin walk into his yard.
“He was a Black man, big guy,” Harris recalled. “He was a rough-looking character. He looked like he hadn’t had a bath in several days.”
Harris said he noticed Martin carried half a soda can in his hand.
“That’s when he told me he wanted some water. And I wasn’t going to go for that,” said Harris, who called 911.
The responding deputies found Martin in the roadway. They said he refused to stop walking, threw down the can and took an aggressive stance, prompting them to fire Tasers when he didn’t follow instructions. Dash-cameras and bystander cellphones recorded what happened next: Martin was surrounded by the deputies as a puff of smoke appeared when a Taser discharged. Martin flopped to the ground, then picked himself up and tried to walk away.
Deputies ultimately pulled the triggers at least 15 times, sending current into Martin’s body for about a minute and a half in total. An autopsy by a Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner concluded his death was a homicide. The Washington County sheriff fired all three of these men after Martin’s death
In his closing argument, defense attorney Shawn Merzlak said their use of force was reasonable.
“This case is not ‘poor Mr. Eurie Martin getting tased because he wanted water,’” Merzlak told jurors. “Police officers have a right to detain somebody if they suspect they have committed a crime.”
Prosecutor George Lipscomb closed by calling that rationale absurd.
“They want this to be the standard for your community: People killed for littering?” Lipscomb asked jurors. “People killed by walking in the street? Is that Washington County? Is this who you are?”
