After two days of evidence and testimony, the trial against a former Atlanta Police officer charged in the 2019 shooting death of an 18-year-old boy is expected to conclude Friday with closing arguments.
Oliver Simmonds, who previously served as part of former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ security detail, is facing a felony murder and aggravated assault charge.
Simmonds claims he feared for his life and the safety of bystanders when D’Ettrick Griffin took his unmarked patrol car at a southwest Atlanta gas station.
During direct examination by his attorney Jackie Patterson, Simmonds on Thursday repeated his claims that his jacket was caught in the door of the vehicle and his right foot was run over.
“I was so devastated, I feared for my life,” Simmonds testified. He said he pulled out his service weapon and fired upon Griffin in the fleeing vehicle.
Credit: Jonathan Hibbert
Credit: Jonathan Hibbert
Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Sau Chan questioned Simmonds about his claim of his right foot being run over by the fleeing vehicle.
Chan presented Simmonds with multiple medical records from Kaiser Permanente, the doctors Simmonds went to the day after the incident, in which medical staff noted both of Simmonds’ feet were injured.
Simmonds claimed medical staff had made a mistake. Chan later brought up another medical condition in his records. Simmonds denied any knowledge of it and once again asserted it was a mistake by doctors.
Simmonds also claimed prosecution witnesses, who were at the gas station the day of the incident, lied on the stand. The witness said they saw the moments that Simmonds pulled out his service weapon and fired upon the vehicle.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
During opening statements, Patterson said Griffin made a decision to commit a crime by stealing the unmarked patrol car and put Simmonds’ life in danger by doing so.
“Mr. Griffin would be alive today if he had not made the decision to be a car thief on January 15, 2019,” Patterson said.
Simmonds was off duty and not wearing his uniform when he stopped to fill up his car at a gas station on the night of Jan. 15, 2019. Authorities said Griffin jumped into Simmonds’ driver seat while he was pumping gas and took off; it’s unclear if Griffin knew he it was a police car.
According to the GBI, Griffin had begun to drive off before Simmonds fired multiple shots at him. The car traveled a short distance before crashing into two parked vehicles, with Griffin, who was unarmed, dead inside.
The state’s first witness was Griffin’s mother, Gaysha Glover, who became emotional while recalling the events prior to the fatal shooting and how she learned of her son’s death.
“I tried to go see him but they won’t let me pass,” Glover said.
Multiple law enforcement agents from the GBI and Atlanta Police that responded to the scene testified during the trial. Some said they had to break the window to be able to attend to Griffin.
The jury of seven men and seven women is expected to begin deliberating after closing arguments Friday. Prosecutors said Simmonds declined a plea offer of 20 years, with 10 years in prison and the other 10 on probation.
Simmonds, who was indicted in October 2022, turned himself in and was booked at the Fulton County Jail on Nov. 4, 2022 and released on a $50,000 bond.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
During a February hearing, Judge Eric Dunaway ruled that Simmonds did not meet the burden needed to be granted immunity and denied the motion.
The shooting brought to light a debate over when, or even if, officers should fire at fleeing vehicles.
Atlanta Police Department policy prohibits officers from firing their weapons to stop a fleeing vehicle but carves out a broad exception that allows a “reasonable and necessary” use of force.
Simmonds was initially assigned to an administrative role after the shooting and was suspended without pay following the indictment. An emergency hearing had been scheduled to determine his fate with the department before he retired.
Simmonds was born in Jamaica and served as a police officer there for 13 years before coming to the U.S. in 2000. He joined APD in 2010 and is married with six children.
