More of This

Columbus police officer Adam Coy has been convicted of murder for his shooting of Andre Hill.

Hill was following police instructions when Coy lost his sh%$ and emptied his gun into him.

This is a good thing.  When police are held criminally liable for their crimes, they are less likely to commit crimes:

A Franklin County jury has found a former Columbus police officer guilty of murder and other charges in the December 2020 fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man.

Adam Coy, 48, is guilty of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide in the December 2020 shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, the Common Pleas Court jury decided Monday.
Karissa Hill, daughter of Andre Hill, reacts as the jury's verdict finding former Columbus police officer Adam Coy guilty of murder and other charges is read Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Coy was convicted of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide in the Dec. 22, 2020, shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill.

Judge Stephen McIntosh will sentence Coy on Nov. 25, but the only sentence McIntosh can impose is life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least 15 years.

………

The unprecedented conviction marks the first time a Columbus police officer has been found guilty of murder for a death that occurred in the line of duty. Coy and his defense attorneys argued he believed his life was in danger when he shot and killed Hill, believing a silver key ring in Hill's hand was a revolver.

Yeah, his defense was that he is an abject coward and so should be excused for shooting a man to death.

………

Coy went to Oberlin Drive around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2020, after a neighbor had called the Columbus police nonemergency number about a silver SUV parked there that had been running on and off for about three hours.  

Coy arrived and spoke with the SUV driver, now known to be Hill. Evidence in the case showed Hill had shown Coy a cellphone and said he was waiting on someone. Coy testified he saw Hill walk up to the door of a neighboring home on Oberlin and knock on the door with no response from inside.  Hill walked back to the SUV, rummaged inside, and returned to the front door of the home, knocking again with no response.  

Coy told the jury that when another officer, Amy Detweiler, arrived on the scene, Coy told her that the situation seemed off, and the two began walking up the driveway and approached the home, where the garage door was open.

Evidence from the trial showed the officers saw Hill inside a vehicle inside the open garage, which had no lights on, and Coy told Hill to come out and show himself.  

As Hill came out of the garage, he had his left hand up holding a lit cellphone. Coy suddenly yelled, “Gun, gun, he has a gun!” before drawing his firearm and firing at Hill four times. Coy testified he saw silver metal in Hill’s right hand.

The metal was Hill’s key ring. He was unarmed.  

Officer Detweiler testified that she raised her gun but did not shoot because she did not see a gun.

Neither Coy nor Detweiler had their body cameras on at the time of the shooting, but they caught the shooting with no audio through a 60-second look-back feature.  

Columbus police fired Coy less than a week after the shooting.  

Jurors in the case did not hear evidence or see body camera footage about how Coy or other officers did not provide Hill any medical aid for about 10 minutes after the shooting because Coy was not facing any charges related to what happened after the gunfire.

Columbus City Council later passed Andre’s Law, requiring city police officers to provide medical aid to someone they wound on or injure while awaiting medics to arrive. Columbus also enhanced police officers’ body cameras, including a two-minute look-back feature that captures audio and video.

Of course, the head of the police union implied that the police will basically engage in a sit-down strike in response, but that's par for the course for police union reps.

Even if you don't think that Coy should be held criminally liable, it is a good thing that he will no longer carry a gun and a badge, because incompetent cowards do not serve the public good.