Lawyer for Atlanta cop says he has not agreed to be a 'state's witness' in Rayshard Brooks case
An attorney for Atlanta Police officer Devin Brosnan is disputing Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard's announcement that Brosnan "has now become a state's witness."
Brosnan was one of the two officers involved in last week's deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old father of three. Brooks fell asleep in his car in a Wendy's drive-thru, and police said he grabbed a taser and ran off as officers tried to arrest him following a series of field sobriety tests. Former Atlanta Police officer Garrett Rolfe fired three shots at him, with two hitting Brooks in the back.
During a press conference Wednesday, Howard announced 11 criminal charges against Rolfe, including felony murder. Brosnan, who is now on administrative leave, has been charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath of office.
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Howard also said Brosnan seemed to "actually indicate that he is willing to testify against someone in his own department," but Brosnan's attorney, Don Samuel, told CNN that his client "has not agreed to testify. He has not agreed to plead guilty. He honestly told the DA's office everything that happened during a lengthy interview yesterday. ... But he is absolutely not guilty of any crime and will not plead guilty and has not agreed to be a 'state's witness.'"
Samuel made a similar statement to reporters after Howard's press conference, saying, "We've never agreed to cooperate." When asked about the denial, Howard responded, "I'm not surprised by that. We've already interviewed him twice and I can say what he's said to us."
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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