Hi all. I live just north of Atlanta, and I used to work downtown. Here's what I can tell you:
First off, Fulton County screwed up big time. Every other county I (and the numerous LEOs I've talked it over with the last 36 hours) know of would have required AT LEAST two officers of equal stature to escort this guy at all times. AT NO TIME should a single armed officer have been left alone with this man when unrestrained. He absolutely should have been in shackles, as he does in fact have quite a long rap-sheet. In many counties, even misdemeanor offenders are brought into court in shackles.
He outweighed Hall by 50 lbs, BTW. The poor woman was almost deliberately sent into harm's way. Thing is, it doesn't surprise me. Fulton county, and especially City of Atlanta officers have it hard. They get hand-me-down ordinance and equipment, constant derision from the liberal political system, and they can't do their job without getting slapped with lawsuit after lawsuit. They don't get treated with any sort of respect from the people they serve, and the administration gives them no support. Oh, and they do this for $35k/year.
I hope some folks in high places lose their jobs over this, but it likely won't happen. Blame will somehow be shifted to the officers themselves rather than to Nichols and the people who decided that simple security precautions were "too expensive." All day yesterday, talk radio shows had people calling in using facile arguments to say that this proves how "incompetent" the police supposedly are and how they just won't give a broth^H^H^H^civilian a break. It sickens me. Even the local paper seems to have taken a very accusatory stance against the officers, rather than the city officials, where the blame belongs.
Of course, this is Fulton county, where the last sheriff-elect was executed gangland-style by his opponent. They've decided to appoint a "task force" to investigate yesterday's incident. Anyway...
Judges and DAs can carry in court, and many do here. Unfortunately, Barnes was taken unawares (he was shot in the back of the head), so it probably wouldn't have helped. When a guy like Nichols was in the courtroom, he should have been attended by two unarmed deputies, with a third, armed deputy across the room.
Georgia DOES have a death penalty, and he's eligible for it three times over. It's a foregone conclusion for the judge and the deputy, and very likely for the court reporter. (In Georgia, if someone dies during the comission of a crime, the defendant is charged with murder, no matter how it happened) What's more, the killing of Wilhelm means he's up for the Federal death penalty as well.
My prayers go out to the officers and their families today.