In 2019, 18-year-old D’Ettrick Griffin was allegedly involved in a carjacking of police officer Oliver Simmonds. Officer Simmonds shot and killed Griffin. Officer Simmonds was arrested and charged with murder.
As reported, prosecutors from Fulton County alleged that Simmonds, who was off-duty at the time, shot and killed Griffin on July 15, 2019 while Griffin was pumping gas at a Shell station near the intersection of McDaniel and Whitehall streets.
“Police said Griffin slid into the officer’s unmarked cruiser and sped away, but not before Simmonds shot the teen.” Supporting his claim of self-defense, Jackie Patterson, Simmonds’ attorney, said “the officer feared for his life.” Patterson referenced the law of self-defense: “The law says if your life is in danger, and you really believe you are about to be shot or killed, you have a right to kill that person.”
Fulton County Chief Assistant District Attorney Sau Chan framed the matter differently, trying to present Simmonds as “judge, jury, and executioner.”
Chan alleged “Simmonds lied and claimed his feet were injured.” Prosecutors emphasized that “Griffin was not armed and was fleeing after stealing a car.”
Chan argued: “That man (Simmonds) was not in fear for anybody’s life. He just needed to get his car back because he was embarrassed.”
The Fulton County jury has found Officer Oliver Simmonds not guilty in the deadly shooting. The jury returned its verdict almost immediately, merely “four hours after deliberations began.”
Simmonds embraced his attorney and breathed a sigh of relief in response to the not guilty verdicts read in open court.