Georgia ex-sheriff convicted of murder

ALBANY, Ga. — A former Georgia sheriff was convicted yesterday of ordering the assassination of his political nemesis, a reform-minded lawman gunned down on his own driveway three days before he was to take office.

Sidney Dorsey was found guilty of first-degree murder in the brazen slaying of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown in December 2000. From Day One, Dorsey had been the prime suspect, although had prosecutors struggled to build a case against him, saying he used his status and police know-how to thwart them.

As the verdicts were read, Phyllis Brown, Derwin's widow, sobbed so hard she fell to the courtroom floor.

The defendant didn't blink. He didn't say anything.

It has been a long slide down for Dorsey, 62, who had been celebrated as DeKalb County's first black sheriff since his election in 1996. He will be sentenced to life in prison for the murder. He was also convicted of 11 corruption-related charges, including bribery, theft and violation of his oath. His attorneys have vowed to appeal.

As sheriff of the suburban Atlanta county, Dorsey had been in charge of a 3,700-bed jail, a $50 million budget and 750 employees.

Prosecutors said he ran the department like an extension of his ego: making deputies run personal errands and work for his private security business, forcing women to have sex with him and demanding bribes.

In summer 2000, Brown challenged Dorsey with a simple pledge to clean up the office.

Brown, 46, also black, was playing off the fact that every single DeKalb sheriff since 1964 had been investigated, indicted or imprisoned. And that included Dorsey, who was under investigation for stealing jail resources.

Dorsey leaves a violent legacy. He killed a man in a shootout while on duty as an Atlanta policeman in 1965 but was cleared of wrongdoing. In 1970, he killed another man during a fight at a gas station. He was charged with manslaughter, but the case was not prosecuted after Dorsey said his gun had discharged accidentally.

"He's gotten away with it before," DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan said. "He's so arrogant."

Brown trounced Dorsey in a runoff election, then announced he would fire 38 of the department's 700 deputies.

He was set to take office when he pulled up to his house Dec. 15 and stepped out with a dozen roses for his wife's birthday. That's when someone popped out of the bushes and shot him 12 times.

For months, authorities had nothing to go on but a handful of 9-mm shells. But prosecutors got a break last year when Dorsey's protégé Patrick Cuffy was arrested in the unrelated killing of a man who was found outside his apartment. He struck an immunity deal to avoid prosecution and agreed to testify against Dorsey.

The prosecution stumbled at first, failing in March to convict the two alleged triggermen: former Deputy Melvin Walker and Cuffy's friend David Ramsey, who were acquitted in DeKalb County. Concerned about pretrial publicity, DeKalb Judge Cynthia Becker moved Dorsey's trial to Albany.

Dorsey wanted Brown out of the way so he could run again for sheriff, Cuffy testified.

But at least one juror said yesterday that it wasn't Cuffy's testimony that swayed the jury.

After the judge thanked them, the lone man among a panel full of women ambled out of the jury box and into the arms of Brown's mother. "Just want to tell y'all I'm sorry," said juror Willie Hayes, as he hugged her.

While Brown's family listened raptly, Hayes, a 64-year-old probation officer, explained what happened during the two days of deliberations. He said a lot of people didn't believe Cuffy. He said the jurors were troubled by the immunity deals offered to Cuffy and another conspirator, Paul Skyers.

But in the end, the case was about power — and what one man would do to keep it.

"Dorsey played God," Hayes said. "And you can't play God."

"Amen," said Brown's mother, Burvena, wringing Hayes' hand like a handkerchief. "Amen."

Information from The Washington Post and The Associated Press is included in this report.