SPACISM: No Place for NGHRS in a Majority Racist Country. Jury Acquits 3 White GA Cops who Tased Eurie Martin to Death, Under Arrest for Walking in a Rural Road w/No Sidewalk After Whites Called 911

ACCORDING TO FUNKTIONARY:

Spacism – racism white supremacy applied to geographical, cultural and geopolitical space; especially the consolidation and concentration of property ownership by Caucasians and Corporations in (or with) economic and political power. 2) urban removal. 3) gentrification. (See: Racism White Supremacy, Property, Capital Punishment & Monopoly Capitalism)

From [HERE] Three white 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.

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.”

Eurie Martin was a 58-year-old mentally ill African-American man that passed while in being detained on the evening of July 7, 2017.

Martin was walking along, or perhaps on, the road going from his home in Milledgeville toward Sandersville. In the settlement of Deepstep, Georgia, he asked Cyrus Harris, a local resident, for water. Harris called 911. 

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 white 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.

While attempting to arrest and handcuff Martin, the deputies used Taser devices. Witnesses pointed out that two of the officers were obese.[2]

The three policemen were fired and charged with felony murder, involuntary manslaughter, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and reckless conduct. Medical testimony showed Martin had no drugs in his system.[2] The prosecution also produced witnesses that such a use of a Taser was not within the department's guidelines.[3]

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

The deputies had to justify the use of Tasers. They first said that Martin physically threatened him. Without reasonable suspicion of a crime, Martin could legally resist being handcuffed.[4]

Deputies testified that Martin was walking on the road as they arrived, a crime that justified the arrest. The prosecution argued that it was a rural road with no sidewalk, and people commonly walked down the road.[5]

Eyewitnesses Lee Curtis Bentley and Susan Steele testified the lawmen did not give aid to Martin when he was restrained.[2] Which was later shown to be a lie. As video evidence shows at least one deputy as well as police officers and a first responder checking on him. 

The officer's defense initially claimed the killing was covered by Georgia's Stand Your Ground law. This was disallowed. They then maintained their actions were in fact within the Sheriff's Office guidelines and that they were not trained in those guidelines.

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?”