Sidney Dorsey | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupation(s) | Law enforcement official, first African-American sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia, 1996-2000 |
Spouse | Sherry Dorsey (m. 1954–2006) |
Conviction(s) | July 10, 2002 |
Criminal charge | First-degree malice murder of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, a DeKalb County police officer and Dorsey's electoral challenger in 2000 Racketeering and violation of oath of office of elected official Theft by taking in violation of oath of office of elected official |
Penalty | Life without parole for conspiracy to commit murder 23 years added for racketeering and violation of oath of office Concurrent 10-15 year sentences for theft by taking in violation of oath of office |
Details | |
Victims | Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown |
Country | United States |
State(s) | Georgia |
Sidney Dorsey (born February 23, 1940) is an American former law enforcement officer who served as sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia from 1996 to 2000. Dorsey was the first African American to serve as sheriff of DeKalb County. When Dorsey lost a 2000 runoff election to challenger Derwin Brown, he arranged Brown's murder.
Prior to 1996, Dorsey served on the task force that looked into reopening the case of convicted murderer Wayne Williams. Dorsey appeared as one of many who voiced public doubt of Williams's guilt, including some of the victims' relatives. Dorsey is quoted as stating: "Most people who are aware of the child murders believe as I do that Wayne Williams did not commit these crimes." Williams was identified as the key suspect in the Atlanta Child Murders that occurred between 1979 and 1981. In January 1982, Williams was found guilty of the murder of two adult men. Dorsey, as a homicide detective in Atlanta, supervised the first search of Williams's home in 1981.[ citation needed ]
On the evening of December 15, 2000, police captain Derwin Brown, who defeated Dorsey that November in the election for county sheriff, was murdered at his home in Decatur, Georgia. [1] On July 10, 2002, Dorsey was convicted of ordering Brown's assassination in order to obstruct Brown's expected probe into corruption occurring in the DeKalb County sheriff's office during Dorsey's term.
Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker sentenced Dorsey to life in prison for the murder conviction, an additional 23 years on racketeering and violation of oath of office convictions, and concurrent sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years for several convictions of theft by taking of the oath of office of an elected official. [2] Dorsey is currently being held at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison. [3] [4]
In 2007, it was reported that Dorsey allegedly confessed to his part in ordering the hit on Brown out of bitterness for his defeat in the sheriff's election. [5] He claimed he had attempted to abort the assassination plot before Brown's murder but was unsuccessful. [6]
DeKalb County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur.
Wayne Bertram Williams is an American convicted murderer and suspected serial killer who is serving life imprisonment for the 1981 killings of two men in Atlanta, Georgia. Although never tried for the additional murders, he is also believed to be responsible for at least 24 of the 30 Atlanta murders of 1979–1981, also known as the Atlanta Child Murders.
Leo Max Frank was an American lynching victim convicted in 1913 of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, an employee in a factory in Atlanta, Georgia where he was the superintendent. Frank's trial, conviction, and unsuccessful appeals attracted national attention. His kidnapping from prison and lynching became the focus of social, regional, political, and racial concerns, particularly regarding antisemitism. Modern researchers generally agree that Frank was wrongly convicted.
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Derwin Brown was an American police captain and the sheriff-elect of DeKalb County, Georgia, who was assassinated on the evening of December 15, 2000 on the orders of defeated rival Sidney Dorsey.
Cynthia Becker Mello is a former Georgia Superior Court Judge on the DeKalb Superior Court, Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, from 2000 until March 1, 2015. She presided over several high-profile cases, including the criminal trial of former Sheriff Sidney Dorsey and the release of exonerated Clarence Harrison.
Opened in 1969, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GDCP) is a Georgia Department of Corrections prison for men in unincorporated Butts County, Georgia, near Jackson. The prison holds the state execution chamber. The execution equipment was moved to the prison in June 1980, with the first execution in the facility occurring on December 15, 1983. The prison houses the male death row, while female death row inmates reside in Arrendale State Prison.
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