Nov 04, 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – After a two-week trial that was delayed for years, a Franklin County jury found a former Columbus police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man guilty of murder.  Adam Coy, 48, faced charges of murder, reckless homicide and felonious assault for shooting Andre Hill, 47, in 2020. After deliberating for about 12 hours, the jury delivered a guilty verdict on all charges. As the verdict was read, family members of both Coy and Hill cried. Judge Stephen McIntosh will sentence Coy on Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. He faces 15 years to life in prison.  “It’s been way too long, way too long but I’m glad that it’s over,” said Hill’s sister, Shawna Barnett. “I mean it won’t bring Andre back, but hopefully it will set a precedent across the board for everyone else this is not something we can tolerate.” Use of force trials for police officers use a different standard than the typical murder trial. Jurors did not have to decide if Coy killed Hill, but rather if Coy’s use of force was “objectively reasonable” based on the knowledge he had during that time, without the use of hindsight.  "It was devastating," said Coy’s attorney Mark Collins. "Any time you do trial work, you always anticipate both and you try to prepare yourself, but nothing prepares you for that. Very disappointed. However, that jury reached the decision they did. In their minds it's a just verdict whether I disagree with it or not and that's part of our justice system." On Dec. 22, 2020, at about 1:50 a.m., Coy shot Hill four times while responding to a nonemergency suspicious vehicle call on Columbus’ northwest side. Coy fired at Hill after he began exiting a garage at Coy’s request, with a lit phone screen held up in his left hand and his right hand at his side, not clearly visible due to a parked car. Coy testified he believed Hill had a silver revolver in his right hand, which ended up being a set of keys. WATCH: Jury's verdict against Adam Coy is read While multiple officers began arriving at the scene about five minutes after the shooting, 10 minutes passed before Hill was given any medical assistance. He died at a hospital less than an hour later. About one week after the shooting, Coy was fired from the force. In February 2021, Coy was charged with murder and felonious assault, before he was indicted on an additional charge of reckless homicide in April. In the following years, Coy’s trial was delayed three times due to his battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The trial began with jury selection on Oct. 21, nearly four years after the shooting. Jurors heard from a total of 10 witnesses, including an officer with Coy at the time of the shooting, Coy himself and other responders. Jurors also heard from law enforcement expert witnesses from both the prosecution and defense, who gave conflicting testimony on whether Coy followed nationally recognized police practices. Jurors did not hear about previous use of force citizen complaints made against Coy, and some other related circumstances that were either prohibited from being mentioned or not presented by attorneys.  The main theme of the defense’s case was that Coy was justified in shooting Hill, since he perceived a deadly threat and reacted in the way he was trained. Prosecuting attorneys argued Coy acted recklessly, and could have taken numerous other courses of action if he was suspicious of Hill that would have not resulted in his death.
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