Delivering a decisive victory for law enforcement, a federal judge has thrown out all murder charges against a former Atlanta police officer.
U.S. District Judge Michael Brown’s ruling declares Officer Sung Kim’s actions as “textbook self-defense” after he shot an armed robbery suspect hiding in a closet.
Judge Brown dismissed all criminal charges against former Kim related to the 2019 fatal shooting of Jimmy Atchison.
The charges included felony murder, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and violation of oath of office.
After reviewing the evidence, Brown ruled that Kim acted in legitimate self-defense during the dangerous confrontation.
The incident occurred during a federal task force operation to arrest Atchison, who was wanted on an armed robbery warrant.
When officers located Atchison hiding in a closet, Kim believed his life was in immediate danger.
Although Atchison was unarmed, multiple officers and a use-of-force expert testified that Kim’s perception of threat was reasonable under the circumstances.
In his ruling, Judge Brown delivered a scathing assessment of the prosecution’s decision to bring charges against the veteran officer.
The judge found the evidence for self-defense “overwhelming” and criticized prosecutors for pursuing the case for over two years despite clear evidence supporting Kim’s actions.
“Indeed, the evidence for self-defense is so overwhelming it is hard to understand how Georgia could have brought these charges in the first place, much less continued with them over the two and a half years since,” Judge Michael Brown stated.
The judge’s ruling was based on both the federal Supremacy Clause and Georgia’s self-defense laws.
Kim, a 26-year veteran of the Atlanta police department, retired months after the shooting. His attorney Don Samuel said:
“It is hard to celebrate when a young man died; but there is no doubt that the decision of the Fulton County DA’s office to compound the tragedy by prosecuting Sung Kim was an inexcusable abuse of prosecutorial discretion. Judge Brown’s decision was unambiguous: Sung Kim’s acted in self-defense. In fact, the prosecution’s expert witness testified that Sung Kim acted legitimately in self-defense.”
The ruling effectively ends the criminal case against Kim, though it remains unclear if prosecutors will attempt to appeal.
Kim was not wearing a body camera during the incident due to FBI policy at the time, which complicated the investigation.
This policy gap forced the Atlanta Police Department to temporarily withdraw from federal task forces until body camera requirements could be addressed.
The Georgia NAACP and Atchison’s family have criticized the ruling, arguing it undermines civil rights and public safety.
Atchison’s family, who filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit, claimed he was attempting to surrender with his hands in the air when he was shot.
However, the judge’s ruling explicitly rejected this narrative, finding Kim’s actions consistent with proper law enforcement training and procedures.
