Just moments after Travis McMichael killed Ahmaud Arbery with three shotgun blasts, one Glynn County police officer after another arrived at the bloody scene. The seventh episode of Season 8 of the AJC’s “Breakdown” podcast focuses on recently released bodycam footage taken by some of those officers. They are seen securing the scene and, most importantly, interviewing McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 18, 2021•42 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael were denied bond after a two-day hearing in Brunswick, Ga. Join host Bill Rankin as he recounts what happened at the hearing -- and explores what led the judge to deny bond for the two men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 24, 2020•52 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Prosecutors building a case against the three men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have passed several motions regarding what evidence can be submitted in court. Meanwhile, the contention that gunman Travis McMichael uttered a racial epithet while standing over Arbery's body remains the most explosive element of the case. However, jurors may never hear about it. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores how issues raised now could shape the outcome of a trial. Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Oct 19, 2020•38 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Since Ahmaud Arbery's death, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael have been condemned by many as racist vigilantes who targeted a Black man running down their street. Attorneys for the men claim that is far from true. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores the McMichaels' history prior to their fateful meeting with Ahmaud Arbery. Nothing could be further from the truth, lawyers for both Travis and Greg McMichael recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Learn more about your ad choice...
Sep 21, 2020•44 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast An attorney for one of the three men accused of chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery in February says the group's actions are legally justifiable by a law dating back all the way to the 1860s. Meanwhile, Georgia's legislature is considering repealing the law because of the case. Join host Bill Rankin as he examines what Georgia's citizen's arrest law says and how it may impact the Arbery murder case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 24, 2020•43 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Protests in Atlanta attract national attention as a preliminary hearing in Brunswick begins. During the probable cause hearing, there is only one witness: the lead investigator on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 11, 2020•37 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast A tragic shooting has thrust coastal Georgia onto the national scene. On Feb. 23, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American man, was shot three times in a neighborhood near Brunswick, where he was confronted by two white men. The video of the shooting has now been seen by millions. In this special episode of Breakdown, hosts Bill Rankin and Greg Bluestein examine what is known about the case, and what’s to come. You’ll hear from officials down in Brunswick as well as former AJC managing edit...
May 27, 2020•48 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast In this special episode of Breakdown, AJC reporter Joshua Sharpe decided to take a close look at a 35-year-old double murder case. An African-American couple was shot and killed inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Camden County, Ga. Dennis Perry was convicted of the killings and has been in prison for 20 years for them. What Sharpe found out is stunning. And we’re going to let him tell you about it, from beginning to end. In this episode, he reads his story, “The Imperfect Alibi: the forgot...
May 23, 2020•1 hr•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Chip Olsen's fate is now in the hands of the jury. Will the ex-cop end up behind bars? We take you through the murder trial's dramatic conclusion and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 18, 2019•56 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast After a rocky start, prosecutors come out swinging in the murder trial of Chip Olsen. One of their star witnesses: Olsen's own police academy instructor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 12, 2019•49 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Testimony begins in the murder trial of Robert "Chip" Olsen and a trio of witnesses who saw Anthony Hill's final moments take the stand for the state. But do they help or hurt the prosecution's case? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 04, 2019•32 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast A jury is seated and Chip Olsen's murder trial is finally underway. The ex-cop's defense lawyer said he fired at Anthony Hill because he was terrified as the naked man ran at him. But the prosecution offers a surprising new theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 29, 2019•44 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Chip Olsen's legal team turns to a mock jury to road test their defense strategy. Jurors had a lot of questions and some strong opinions. And what will the lawyers be looking for when they select a real jury? This murder case could turn conventional wisdom on its head. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 21, 2019•32 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast When Anthony Hill was killed by DeKalb County Police Officer Robert “Chip” Olsen in 2015 he became the latest casualty in a growing crisis: One in every four people shot and killed by police is suffering from mental illness. Why do police encounters with the mentally ill turn deadly so often? And would Hill be alive today if DeKalb had done more to train its officers? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 15, 2019•31 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Former Police Officer Chip Olsen takes the stand in a risky gamble to try to get the murder charges against him dismissed. Does it pay off? And his lawyers push a controversial defense used by cops to justify the use of force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 08, 2019•35 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Who is Chip Olsen? The cop who shot and killed Anthony Hill followed an unusual path to the force. We’ll tell you why it’s so rare to indict police officers who kill in the line of duty. And we’ll take you inside the surprising revelation that convinced the DeKalb DA to not only charge Olsen, but to charge him with murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 01, 2019•38 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast On March 9, 2015, the manager of the Heights at Chamblee apartment complex called 911 to report that a man was wandering the grounds naked in the middle of the afternoon. Soon afterward, he was dead, shot and killed by the DeKalb County police officer who arrived at the scene. Who was Anthony Hill, the 26-year-old Afghanistan war veteran whose life ended that day? And how did he end up dead at the hands of police? We introduce you to Hill's life — his music and his family — as well his struggles...
Sep 27, 2019•32 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Anthony Hill was a loving son, talented musician and an Afghanistan War veteran. In 2015, Hill was shot and killed by DeKalb County Police officer Chip Olsen, who was responding to a 911 call of a naked man wandering an apartment complex. Hill was unarmed and off of his medications. Olsen claims he acted in self-defense. In our new season of Breakdown, hosts Bill Rankin and Christian Boone tell the story of Hill's life and death, and will follow the trial of Officer Olsen, who is charged with mu...
Sep 02, 2019•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast The jury in the McIver murder case finally comes back -- after four days -- and delivers a confusing verdict that appears to say McIver intended to shoot his wife, Diane, but didn't intend to kill her. The closing arguments, four separate addresses by some of the best lawyers in Georgia, were every bit the spectacle that you'd imagine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 26, 2018•55 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast The jury in the Tex McIver murder case gets the case and deliberates, and deliberates, and deliberates. One of the last things the jury asked for was permission to see, for a second time, the SUV in which Diane McIver was shot, AND they ask to take the .38 revolver with them to the car. So some of them sat where Tex sat and pulled the trigger that Tex pulled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 23, 2018•11 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast The state rests after putting up more 70 witnesses. The defense case-in-chief takes only 2 1/2 days. The mysterious masseuse, Annie Anderson, takes the stand. And the executor for Diane McIver's estate has a surprise in store for the prosecution. Then the defense rests, and we're down to couple of rebuttal witnesses from the prosecution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 16, 2018•51 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast The prosecution puts up the chief homicide investigator in the Tex McIver murder case and then tries its best to show how deficient the police investigation was. Normally, the district attorney and the police are on the same side. But not this time. The police charged McIver with involuntary manslaughter, but the DA went with malice murder -- convinced that the Atlanta Police Department was letting McIver off too easy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 09, 2018•36 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast The prosecution in Tex McIver's murder trial completes its third week -- a sometimes grueling slog in which the state seemed to be throwing just about everything it can find at McIver. Some if it may not be provable, but none of it looks good. And that seems to be the point. If prosecutors can't prove McIver is a cold-blooded killer, can they sway the jury by suggesting that McIver is a man you can neither trust nor like? And, of course, Tex is helping the state build its case by doing the thing...
Apr 02, 2018•42 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast The state calls Dani Jo Carter -- the only witness to the shooting of Diane McIver. She is on the stand for more than two full days. She tells the prosecution that Tex McIver asked her to lie about being in the SUV that night. But she tells the defense that she stands by her earlier statements to police that Tex was asleep before the gun went off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 26, 2018•42 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast The state opens the Claud "Tex" McIver murder trial by detonating some new bombshells. McIver, the prosecution says, provided six different versions of what happened to his wife on the night she was shot. Or did he? Among the first prosecution witnesses was Emory University Hospital ER physician Suzanne Hardy, who treated Diane McIver the night she died. Yes, Hardy testified, Diane told her the shooting was an accident. And no, Hardy testified, Diane did not want to see her husband before she wa...
Mar 19, 2018•47 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast One prospective juror after another is dismissed for cause because he or she believes Tex McIver intended to kill his wife. At the end of a long week of jury selection, the parties are finally able to qualify a pool of sufficient size that they can select 12 jurors and four alternates from it. But the defense must be troubled by the sheer number of people who had already made up their minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 12, 2018•29 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Both the prosecution and the defense have enormous challenges facing them as the trial begins. For the prosecutors, it's a question of motive. For the defense, it's the defendant himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 05, 2018•41 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast A hard-charging prosecutor goes up against a famed duo of defense attorneys as Claud "Tex" McIver's murder trial begins in one week. Chief Assistant DA Clint Rucker can dominate the courtroom by sheer force of his personality. Bruce Harvey and Don Samuel have a long history of (successfully) defending high-profile clients, from NFL stars to rappers to strippers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 26, 2018•39 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast After a long winter’s delay, the murder trial of The State v. Claud “Tex” McIver is to begin on March 5. Tex says his wife Diane’s death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says he intentionally shot her in the back. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bill Rankin returns to bring you Season 5 of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 19, 2018•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast The jury in the double-murder case of Nicholas Benton could not hang the verdict on any single piece of evidence or testimony. That is, nothing that came up in court was so compelling that it enabled the jury to declare "guilty" or "not guilty." But what about something that came up outside of court? AJC Editor Kevin Riley wraps up his insider's account of being foreman on the jury in a murder trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 18, 2017•49 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast 
