Two found innocent of murder in Georgia sheriff-elect's slaying

DECATUR, Ga. -- Two men accused of killing the sheriff-elect on orders from his predecessor were acquitted of murder and other charges Monday.

David Ramsey and Melvin Walker were charged in the ambush slaying of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, who was gunned down in his driveway in 2000, three days before he was to be sworn in.

The case against the two men was based almost solely on the testimony of two alleged participants in the plot who were given immunity from prosecution.

They said that outgoing Sheriff Sidney Dorsey ordered the hit and that the four men carried it out, with Walker serving as the triggerman after the men drew straws.

Dorsey is set to go on trial in June on murder and racketeering charges. He has said he had nothing to do with the slaying.

Brown had defeated Dorsey in a bitter campaign four months earlier after promising to clean up corruption in the Sheriff's Department. Not long before his death, he had vowed to fire 38 of Dorsey's deputies.

Dorsey was alleged to have ordered the killing because he was angry about losing the election and because Brown was helping authorities investigate the corruption.

Walker was a sheriff's deputy and Ramsey worked for Dorsey's private security company.

Jurors leaving the courthouse Monday refused to comment. Brown's widow, Phyllis, also hurried away from courthouse in tears without commenting.

The defense rested its case without calling witnesses.

"The state has done nothing other than attempt to sacrifice David Ramsey and Melvin Walker in an attempt to get Sidney Dorsey," said Xavier Dicks, Ramsey's attorney, said in his closing argument.

The prosecution's star witnesses were Paul Skyers and Patrick Cuffy. Cuffy was a sheriff's deputy. Skyers worked for Dorsey's security company.

District Attorney J. Tom Morgan, citing a gag order in the case, would not say how the verdicts would affect his case against Dorsey.

Walker's attorney, Max Richardson, said, "The jurors have spoken, and they've expressed their feelings about the state's star witnesses." Richardson said he doubts Dorsey could be convicted on the same testimony.