On Tuesday (February 9) Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr rejected a request from a district attorney who wanted to be removed from the case against the police officers involved in the killing of Rayshard Brooks in June.
In a letter, first obtained by The Hill, Carr wrote that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ request to be removed from the case submitted last month, didn’t give sufficient reason for the office to be “disqualified from these cases by interest or relationship.”
The cases in question are against former Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe, who faces several charges including felony murder, and officer Devin Brosnan, who was charged with aggravated assault and two counts of violating his oath in connection will Rayshard’s killing in a Wendy’s parking lot.
Willis’ request noted concerns about former district attorney Paul Howard who, she argued, “obtained arrest warrants against the… defendants for incidents that occurred during the campaign.”
“I believe his conduct, including using video evidence in campaign television advertisements, may have violated Georgia Bar Rule 3.8(g),” Willis wrote.
“In addition, as you are aware, my predecessor’s conduct also prompted a referral to the GBI for criminal investigation by you of his issuance of grand jury subpoenas at a time when no Fulton County Grand Jury was empaneled,” she added.
Willis continued that Howard’s conduct “create[s] sufficient question of the appropriateness of this office continuing to handle the investigation and possible prosecution of these cases.”
Carr said that Willis’ concerns pertained to Howard, and not to Willis or her current role.
“While I understand the concerns that you have raised,... [b]oth appear daily obviously to be matters that are personal to your predecessor in office and that do not pertain to you or your office,” Carr wrote.
Brooks’ murder was captured on video and widely circulated on social media. In the footage, Brooks can be seen running away from the former officers.
His murder came less than a month after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, adding to the protests against police brutality that were already taking place.
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