A DeKalb County jury has convicted a man of shooting a police officer.
The jury found Michael Hughey guilty of five counts related to the shooting of DeKalb County police Officer Deron Fulton in 2011.
He showed no emotion as a jury read the guilty verdict late Tuesday afternoon.
"It's good to know that justice has been served and I didn't have to be dead, laying in the grave in order for it," Fulton said.
Fulton told Channel 2's Shae Rozzi he thought Hughey was going to kill him when he was shot in August 2011.
Fulton and another officer were conducting a traffic stop when Hughey shot the officer in the chest just beyond his bullet proof vest, and then ran.
Channel 2 photographers followed Fulton's progress at the hospital that night and his recovery ever since. Channel 2 Action News was also there when officers caught Hughey days later.
During the court proceeding Tuesday, prosecutors showed the jury the gun used. The defense didn't argue that Hughey shot the officer, just that he wasn't trying to kill him, so it wasn't attempted murder.
"He wasn't shooting in the head area. He didn't shoot to kill," defense attorney Jamila Montaque argued.
"Have sympathy for the defendant because the officer lived? Really? Really?" said prosecutor Don Geary.
"The memories are always going to be there, you can't take that away. The pain is still there. I say I'm about 97 percent fully recovered. There's always sharp pains now and then and that's something I'll have to deal with for the rest of my life," Fulton told Rozzi about his recovery.
Fulton said he is just happy that he gets to go home and be with his wife and kids and that he's back on the job.
"Hopefully when he's in jail, he'll have a long time to think about what he's done," Fulton said about the man who nearly took his life.
Hughey could get up to 85 years in prison when he's sentenced later this week.
Rozzi learned Hughey turned down a plea deal last week that would've sentenced him to 25 years.
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