LAWRENCEVILLE, GA (WXIA) -- This week, Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill will be invited to speak to a grand jury that will hear criminal charges against him. The charges stem from a shooting in May in Gwinnett County – in which authorities say Hill shot a woman, apparently by accident.
11Alive News has learned Hill's date with the Gwinnett County grand jury – should he accept --- is November 4.
The decision by Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter will give Sheriff Hill a benefit that most ordinary residents of Georgia never get – a chance to say his piece to a grand jury before it decides whether to file a criminal indictment against him.
Authorities say Sheriff Hill was inside a Gwinnett County real estate office – the workplace of his friend Gwenevere McCord – when he fired a shot that sent her to a hospital for weeks. In May. Hill was arrested and charged with reckless conduct.
And now the Gwinnett County grand jury will weigh in – as it must when law enforcement officers are charged with crimes committed in their official capacity. But Sheriff Hill was two counties outside of his jurisdiction, in the presence of a friend, when the gunshot rang out that Sunday night.
Porter acknowledges that one could reasonably argue that Hill wasn't on-duty when the incident took place. Still Porter says Sheriff Hill will get to speak to the grand jury.
"I'm not even going to worry about the question of whether he was in the performance of his duties. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt," Porter said.
Porter says it means Hill will get:
- 15 days notice of the grand jury session;
- A copy of the proposed indictment in advance;
- The right to be present in the grand jury room when prosecutors present their evidence against him;
- And will get to make a statement to the grand jury after the evidence is presented without taking questions.
It's special treatment that law enforcement officers and certain other officials get in criminal cases.
"Usually the grand jury is a rubber stamp for the prosecution. There's an old saying that you can indict a ham sandwich," said attorney Phil Holloway, 11Alive's legal analyst. "But if the defendant has the right to be there and to address the grand jurors and to give their side of things, it can make a huge difference and oftentimes can avoid an indictment."
Porter says the case is moving forward because prosecutors finally spoke for more than an hour Wednesday with McCord, the shooting victim. 11Alive News reported this exclusively last week.
Porter says his office will likely present a misdemeanor case of reckless conduct to the grand jury.
Additional charges of unlawful discharge of a firearm and tampering with evidence are also possibilities.
In a statement and through his attorney, Sheriff Hill has said the shooting with an accident. Hill has declined to respond to reporters' questions about the incident, and has declined to speak with investigators. However, McCord has told investigators the shooting was accidental.
