Peachtree City’s police chief was not arrested the night he shot his former wife in their bed. He did not stand for a mug shot or spend a nervous night in jail.
For the next two months, until he resigned about a week ago, William McCollom continued to collect his $115,000 annual salary while on administrative leave.
For those reasons, some believe the police chief has received special treatment in the aftermath of the New Year’s day shooting, which left Margaret McCollom paralyzed below the waist.
Someone else “would be in jail for attempted murder,” said Melba Brown, 60, a Peachtree City resident for 27 years.
But others say they believe the chief has not received a smoother ride through the justice system. They note that the GBI was brought in for an independent investigation, that McCollom resigned from the force last week, and that a grand jury will consider misdemeanor reckless conduct charges against him next month.
“I feel like so far they’ve gone by protocol,” said Drew Spicer, 26, also of Peachtree City.
Indeed, some go so far as to say the police chief should face no charges at all, that this was just a terrible accident and that he and his former wife have suffered enough.
The shooting has spurred a universal “how-could-it-happen” response, particularly on social media. Many people find it incomprehensible that a police chief would drink alcohol, take a sleep aid and then go to bed with a loaded Glock between the sheets.
The former chief says, and the GBI agrees, that the shooting was accidental. McCollom said he drank some whiskey and took the over-the-counter sleep aid Alleve PM. He said he heard dogs barking in the night, checked the house with his service weapon, and went back to bed with the Glock beside him, only to be jarred awake by the sound of it firing.
'Somebody else would probably be arrested'
Beyond the buzz afforded the incident itself, a striking difference of opinion has emerged regarding the treatment of the police chief by the justice system, including among legal experts.
“Somebody else would probably be arrested, put in jail,” said Michael Mears, an associate professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. “They would have to be bailed out and get a lawyer up front. He probably would have lost his job. He would have gotten a mug shot and it would be on TV and in the press.”
He contrasted the handling of the police chief’s case with that of Justin Ross Harris, the Marietta father accused of killing his son by leaving him in a sweltering vehicle last June. Harris, who maintains it was an accident, was arrested five hours after young Cooper was declared dead at a shopping center parking lot. He remains in custody.
But the greatest gift McCollom has received is time, said Mears. More than three months will have passed by the time a grand jury hears the case April 15. That passage of time “removes the emotion to a certain extent. It removes the heat of the moment.” Consequently, a grand jury may be more willing to accept a misdemeanor charge or a no bill, he said.
Several legal experts agreed that McCollom is taking an uncommon journey through the justice system. But some of that is expected, given his position, said J. Tom Morgan, a former DeKalb County DA.
“There’s not been a travesty of justice. Everyone is just being cautious going after a public official,” Morgan said.
'We are trying to be absolutely thorough'
The investigation was handed to the GBI to avoid a conflict of interest on the part of the local authorities, he said. In general, misdemeanors are rarely brought before a grand jury, but Morgan believes the DA is taking care to avoid the appearance of any special treatment.
GBI Director Vernon Keenan said his agency’s investigation included dozens of interviews, a review of hours of video and audio tapes, forensic testing and checks in McCollom’s background, he said.
“We are trying to be absolutely thorough,” Keenan said. “Our credibility is on the line.”
Ballard, district attorney over the Griffin Judicial Circuit, acknowledged the McCollom case has been handled differently “in a few respects.”
Often in a shooting like this, police would have made an arrest on the spot, Ballard said. But in this instance, the local police held off and allowed the GBI to investigate and, if need be, make the arrest.
Forensic analysis confirmed the gun was fired from under the sheets, Ballard said. The gun was in McCollom’s right hand and his palm had blocked the ejection of the spent shell. Investigators found a powder wound on his right palm.
“There’s no way he would intentionally shoot his gun that way,” Ballard said.
'The law doesn't punish happenstance'
While Ballard said he does not see any evidence to support a felony charge, he said he will ask the grand jury to consider the charge of reckless conduct “since the chief took a loaded gun to bed with him after ingesting alcohol and sleep medication.”
The couple were divorced and had reconciled. Margaret McCollom declined to comment for this article, and neither William McCollom nor his attorney returned phone calls.
McCollom will receive one advantage not granted to ordinary citizens. Ballard said he will give the police chief the opportunity to speak on his own behalf before the grand jury. Police officers are required to do so when an incident occurs in the course of their duties. Ballard said he understands that some people may say McCollom was not on duty when the shooting occurred. But the DA said he wants to give him this opportunity to protect the case from possibly being overturned by an appellate court that sees it differently.
Mike Puglise, a former police officer who is now a defense attorney in Gwinnett, said he believes McCollom is actually being held to a higher standard because of his high-profile post. If such an accidental shooting happened to someone else, authorities may well have chosen to make no arrest or level any charges, he said.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, himself a defense attorney, agreed that the legal system is holding McCollom to a higher standard because he is trained in gun safety and holds a prominent public safety position.
But Barnes said the law should be applied uniformly for all people, regardless of such distinctions.
“The law is the law,” he said. “The law doesn’t punish happenstance. The law punishes intent.”
For now, McCollom has not been arrested. Several experts are withholding judgment on whether the chief received special treatment until the grand jury makes its decision.
Morgan, the former DeKalb DA, said he has seen no sign of preferential treatment so far. But should the grand jury come back with no charges, he said, “give me another call.”
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