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| In August 2000, Derwin Brown celebrated winning the sheriff's race in the DeKalb Democratic primary runoff. In December of that year, he was gunned down in his driveway. |
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GA Sherrif Confesses to Ordering Murder of Sheriff-Elect
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wed Aug 15, 2007
Category: Crime
Area: Atlanta
Former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey has confessed to ordering the murder of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, DeKalb District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming announced Thursday.
In a prison interview with Keyes Fleming and other officials on July 13, Dorsey claimed he later changed his mind about the "hit" he had ordered, the district attorney said, but Brown was killed anyway.
Dorsey was convicted in 2002 of masterminding the assassination and is serving a life prison term.
Dorsey claimed he tried to recall his instructions to one of his sheriff's deputies, Patrick Cuffy, to kill Brown, who had defeated Dorsey in a bitter election campaign in August 2000.
But Brown was shot to death in his driveway on Dec. 15, 2000, three days before he was to replace Dorsey.
Afterward, Dorsey said, he asked Cuffy "Was that you?" He said Cuffy replied, "No, it was M.D.," referring to Melvin D. Walker, the man later convicted as the triggerman.
Brown's daughter, Brandy Brown-Rhodes, who attended Thursday's news conference, called Dorsey's confession "a joke."
"The confession was more entertainment to me. It was a joke," she said. "We think there's more to the story. I don't think it's the complete truth. It doesn't add up."
She said she believes Dorsey still is covering up corruption that Brown had uncovered and planned to rectify as sheriff.
Dorsey told Keyes Fleming he didn't tell authorities about the murder plot at the time because he believed Cuffy would be arrested soon. The district attorney declined to speculate on whether Dorsey's fate would have been different had he come forward then, but she said he should have been "accountable" for Brown's death even if his story of a change of heart is true.
Brown, a 46-year-old career law enforcement officer, had accused Dorsey of running a corrupt sheriff's office in a campaign that ended with Brown's victory in a primary election runoff.
Prosecutors said Dorsey ordered the murder of his political foe and promised jobs and promotions as payoffs. Dorsey wanted Brown, who vowed to clean up corruption, killed before Brown could take office Jan. 1, 2001.
Walker and David Ramsey also received life sentences after being convicted of federal charges in 2005. That came after a DeKalb County jury acquitted the two in 2002.
Jurors in the earlier trial said they didn't trust the prosecutor's two star witnesses, Cuffy and getaway driver Paul Skyers, who were given immunity by prosecutors.
Dorsey confirmed a story Cuffy told at Dorsey's trial that Dorsey at one point gave him a note meaning Brown should be killed, Keyes Fleming said Thursday. She said Dorsey explained that at the time he was enraged over the election loss and was facing troubles in his marriage and a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Some months later, he claimed, he calmed down and called Cuffy to say, "I was out of my mind. I want to move on with my life. Forget that."
Brown's widow, Phyllis Brown, died Dec. 24, 2006. She suffered a stroke in 2003 and struggled to speak on the witness stand in the federal trial in 2005.
Keyes Fleming said Dorsey requested the prison meeting and told her that he wanted to tell his story and to ask whether his actions made him a murderer.
The district attorney said she told Dorsey that question had been answered by his jury.
"Sidney Dorsey's statement validates his conviction as an assassin and is an example of how the evil we speak can destroy lives," Keyes Fleming said Thursday. "Our office will make every effort to ensure he will spend the rest of his life behind bars."
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