As the jury foreman read “not guilty” for the 25th and final time, Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill turned and hugged his team of attorneys with an expression that displayed ebbing fear, growing relief and just a hint of disbelief.
An aggressive defense team and a sympathetic jury had resurrected the lawman’s career, helping him avoid imprisonment on corruption charges.
The scene played out instantly on TV throughout the metro area Thursday afternoon, setting off speculation that another dark cloud was dissipating in a county often preceded by the word “troubled.”
Vernetta Reeves, a Jonesboro mother of three who became active when Clayton County’s school system lost its accreditation in 2008, said maybe Clayton’s momentum is shifting in the right direction.
“We got our accreditation back and, with this verdict, maybe we can move on,” she said following the verdict. “With this hanging over (Hill’s) head, it was harder for him to operate. With these (charges) over his head, you can’t help but lose focus. There’s a sense of relief. It’s a fresh start for him and a fresh start for the county as a whole. We can look at how he goes forward.”
Jessie Goree, a school board member who was at court for the verdict, said she thinks the ordeal will move him in the right direction.
Hopefully, she added, putting the trial in the rear-view mirror might help change the county’s punchline status.
“I see people say we are stupid because we re-elected him.” Goree said. “I get tired of the whole thing. When you go somewhere and say you’re from Clayton County, you get looks. I know, I’m from the school board. We’re the laughing stock.”
Goree said Hill is a presence in the community, showing up at civic meetings, crime scenes and even taking in students to work in his department during school vacations, where he teaches them to stay on the straight and narrow.
She believes that image of Hill helped him in the eyes of jury and may have even bled into deliberations.
“Everyone in the jury box had to know he was sheriff,” she said. “He’s out in the community so it’s not like they didn’t know him. I think their personal feelings had a part in it. You know, enough is enough.”
Hill, the pugnacious cop who became the county’s first black sheriff in 2004, was promptly defeated four years later. He was indicted on racketeering and theft charges but still won his job back last year and enjoys wide support in the largely African American county.
Georgia history indicates that re-election to the sheriff’s post helps cement one’s hold on the office and makes him more difficult to defeat. It remains to be seen if Hill, a savvy and energetic politician, continues that trend. Hill, who has studiously avoided the media, could not be reached for comment.
Hill’s attorneys appealed to the jury — composed of a white man, an Asian man, three black women and seven black men — that their client was the victim of a politically and racially motivated criminal investigation.
“There’s been a sea of whiteness casting allegations against him,” defense attorney Drew Findling said in closing arguments.
Resident Linda Slagle, a county resident since 1986, chuckled at the assertion.
“It’s funny because there’s not a sea of whiteness in Clayton County. Maybe a puddle of whiteness,” said Slagle, who is white and has been active in political and community issues for years.
“I don’t think the electorate is terribly informed and a lot of the politicians like it that way,” said Slagle. “A lot of voters side with Victor Hill because they see him as a victim. That’s a mindset of a lot of voters, that they are victims.”
Slagle said that the indictments and the trial might be a fork in the road for Hill’s career.
“I’d like to think he’s had an eye-opening experience,” she said. “He’s been very contrite. He says he’ll do things right. We get robocalls saying he cares. I’d like to think he’ll turn things around. But if I had to put any money on it, I wouldn’t.”
Henry Anderson, a physician who attends most county commission meetings and often pushes for more police protection, lauds Hill for his role in expanding the sheriff’s department’s duties from simply operating the jail, maintaining courthouse security and serving warrants. Hill puts deputies on drug stakeouts and prostitution stings.
“He has worked as an adjunct. He fills gaps because we don’t have enough officers,” said Anderson. “There’s a sense Victor has been delivering.”
He thinks that is a formula for success.
“I think if he can stay connected to the people and working with the police department, Victor will have continued success,” Anderson said. “I think the sky’s the limit for him.”
Attorney Page Pate, who represented a Clayton resident who filed an unsuccessful suit to remove Hill from office after his indictment, said, “A lot of public officials would learn a lot from something like this. I’m not so sure that applies to Victor Hill. I don’t think he ever thought he did anything wrong.”
Eldrin Bell, the former Atlanta police chief and Clayton commission chairman, forged a close relationship with Hill but later split publicly with him. Bell stopped by the courthouse during the trial but had been out of town and did not know the verdict until told by a reporter.
“Wow,” he said.
Asked if the events of the past few years will change Hill, Bell thought for a moment and said, “Anything that is worthwhile in life comes about through pain and suffering and destruction. In that regard, Sheriff Hill has had a learning experience.”
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