Jury in murder trial for three Middle GA deputies told by judge to keep deliberating

The judge in the trial of three former Washington County sheriff’s deputies charged with murder told the jury that despite their belief they cannot come to a unanimous verdict, they should continue to deliberate.

Since Friday, a Washington County jury has been weighing evidence prosecutors say proves that deputies Henry Lee Copeland, Rhett Scott and Michael Howell illegally detained Eurie Martin in 2017, a felony called false imprisonment. Since Martin lost his life later in the encounter, the deputies are charged with felony murder.

The instructions given by Judge H. Gibbs Flanders were what are sometimes called an Allen charge. That’s when a judge reminds a stuck jury of the importance of the case before them.

“In conferring, you should lay aside all mere pride of opinion and should bear in mind that the jury room is no place for taking up and maintaining, in a spirit of controversy, either side of a cause,” Flanders told the jurors from the bench before sending them back to deliberate.

Soon after hearing the judge’s encouragement, the jury passed out another note asking for a new verdict sheet for defendant Michael Howell, the deputy who first encountered Eurie Martin.

Martin’s killing

Eurie Martin, 58, was a Black man. The deputies were all white. Despite the case escaping much more than regional notoriety, it has drawn the attention of local civil rights activists who see it as a referendum of accountability for white law enforcement officers who abuse their power.

The encounter four years ago began after a resident of rural Deepstep Road called 911 about Martin. That call labeled Martin a “suspicious person.”

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that the encounter that followed between the deputies and Martin, who was likely experiencing a schizophrenic episode, was nothing short of tragic. Martin walked away from the deputies after they asked him to stop for them. Not long after, the deputies stun gunned him. By the time Martin was dead, he had been tased for about two minutes cumulatively.

The crux of the case has been the false imprisonment charge: that is, whether the deputies had a right to stop Martin at all. The defense claim has been that Martin’s violation of Georgia pedestrian law gave the deputies the ability to make the stop.

Overturned decision

The deputies face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on all charges. Each is charged with felony murder, involuntary manslaughter, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and an array of other charges in the July 2017 killing.

The deputies had originally been granted immunity by the same judge hearing the case now under Georgia’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

But the state Supreme Court ruled last year that the law could be invoked since nowhere in evidentiary video is Eurie Martin shown as being physically aggressive to the deputies, and in November 2020 it unanimously overturned that decision, clearing the way for the trial.

Deliberations continued Tuesday.

This story comes to the Telegraph through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit newsroom covering the state of Georgia.