Cop gets probation in driver’s death

A Cobb County police officer pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor vehicular homicide charges and was sentenced to 12 months probation.

Michael Goodman also pleaded guilty to a second charge, failure to obey a traffic light. Goodman’s trial on that charge was expected to start Monday.

Goodman was driving home from work after completing a mandatory training shift, followed by his overnight patrol shift, on Dec. 18, 2007, when he fell asleep as he passed through the intersection of Bells Ferry Road and Cobb Parkway. His car ran into a car driven by Michael Copp, a Marietta husband and father, who was killed in the accident.

In addition to probation, Goodman was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, preferably by lecturing in a defensive driving or driver’s education class. Goodman must also pay Copp’s family $8,064 restitution for funeral costs.

Goodman was 24 at the time of the accident. The disciplinary steps the department took against him, a letter of reprimand, are not enough to bring an automatic review of his law enforcement certification, according to Ryan Powell, spokesman for the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council.

A spokesman for the Cobb Police Department said Goodman will not receive additional administrative punishment until the POST Council decides if it will revoke Goodman’s certification. Goodman is now a patrol officer on the day shift.

Meanwhile, Copp’s widow has notified the county that she intends to sue, holding the County Commission and the Cobb County Police Department responsible for making Goodman work long hours and not training him on how to drive when he is tired.