SAVANNAH, Ga. — Varshan Brown was charged with homicide and brought to trial after sheriff’s deputies fatally shot his cousin in a violent drug raid at Brown’s southeast Georgia dwelling.

After listening to 4 days of proof and arguments in a Camden County courtroom, a jury convicted Brown, 49, of possessing cocaine and assaulting officers by capturing at them. But jurors concluded the demise of his cousin, Latoya James, wasn’t Brown’s fault. They acquitted him of a felony homicide cost.

Attorneys for James’ household mentioned the decision Thursday validates their argument that deputies in the end had been answerable for the 37-year-old Black girl’s demise - not solely as a result of they shot her, but in addition for bursting into Brown’s dwelling with little warning in the course of the night time.

They have in contrast the deputies’ actions to the botched Kentucky narcotics raid that left Breonna Taylor useless and have a federal civil lawsuit pending that seeks $25 million from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.

“If somebody comes to my house at 4 or 5 in the morning and I don’t know who it is, I’m going to shoot too,” Harry Daniels, a civil rights legal professional representing James’ household, mentioned Friday. “If he knew it was police, he wouldn’t have fired a gun at law enforcement.”

Being acquitted in his cousin’s demise didn’t spare Brown from a harsh punishment, although. His conviction for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute enabled the trial decide to condemn him to life in jail.

James was killed May 4, 2021, after deputies with a search warrant for medicine got here to Brown’s darkened dwelling at about 5 a.m. Body digital camera video launched previous to the trial confirmed deputies saying themselves after which instantly forcing their approach inside. Multiple gunshots had been fired inside seconds.

Deputy Downy Casey testified in the course of the trial that he entered a bed room to see Brown standing beside a mattress with James subsequent to him. He mentioned Brown ignored instructions to get on the bottom, raised a handgun and started capturing. Casey and Deputy Michael Blaquiere retuned hearth.

Brown was wounded however survived. James obtained struck by a fraction from a deputy’s bullet and died on the scene.

Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins mentioned Friday he accepts the jury’s verdict. He stood by the choice to place Brown on trial for felony homicide, which Georgia regulation defines as a demise attributable to somebody committing a felony - similar to capturing at police - even when that they had no intent to kill the sufferer.

“Brown did not shoot her,” Higgins mentioned in a cellphone interview. “But for Varshan Brown knowingly shooting at the police, the police never would have fired and Latoya James would still be alive. So it was his act of choosing to fire a handgun at police officers that caused her death.”

Brown’s protection legal professional, Tobe Karrh, didn't instantly return cellphone and e-mail messages Friday.

During his closing argument on the trial, Karrh mentioned the deputies startled Brown once they rammed his door down instantly after saying themselves, WTLV-TV reported. He mentioned Brown couldn’t inform they had been regulation officers as a result of he was blinded by lights on their weapons.

Higgins mentioned the proof confirmed the deputies gave the required discover on the door and that Casey, who was within the entrance, carried a ballistic defend marked with the phrase “sheriff.”

Neither Brown nor James could be seen within the physique digital camera video, which is essentially obscured by Casey’s defend. He was the one deputy outfitted with a physique digital camera in the course of the raid, Higgins mentioned.

Judge Roger B. Lane sentenced Brown to life in jail. Higgins mentioned the penalty was allowed as a result of Brown had a previous conviction for cocaine possession with intent to distribute. The decide ordered Brown to serve 55 years, for the assault and gun fees, earlier than he’s eligible for parole.

The legal professionals for James’ household have likened her killing to that of Breonna Taylor, who was unarmed and killed in a 2020 raid by law enforcement officials in Louisville, Kentucky. The U.S. Justice Department introduced civil rights fees towards 4 officers concerned within the Kentucky raid and later concluded that Louisville police engaged in a sample of violating constitutional rights and discrimination.

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