ALBANY, Ga. — A former Georgia sheriff was convicted Wednesday of ordering the assassination of his political nemesis, a reform-minded lawman gunned down on his own driveway three days before he was to take office.
Sidney Dorsey was found guilty of first-degree murder in the brazen slaying of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown in suburban Atlanta in December 2000. From day one, Dorsey had been the prime suspect, although prosecutors struggled to build a case against him, saying he used his status and police know-how to thwart them.
As the verdicts were read, Brown's widow, Phyllis, sobbed so hard she fell to the courtroom floor. As Dorsey was led away, her family collapsed around her.
"Derwin, Derwin, I can face you now," she cried. "I can face you."
Dorsey didn't blink. He didn't say anything.
It's been a long slide down for Dorsey, 62, who had been celebrated as the first black sheriff of De Kalb County. He will be sentenced to life in prison for the murder because the prosecution did not seek the death penalty. He also was convicted of 11 corruption-related charges, including bribery, theft and violation of his oath. His attorneys have vowed to appeal.
"I feel horrible," defense lawyer Brian Steel said. "An innocent man is going to jail."
Prosecutors ultimately turned to a man they believed had conspired with Dorsey, offering immunity in exchange for his dramatic testimony. In the end, though, at least one juror said that witness didn't matter as much as their belief that Dorsey had a strong motive to kill Brown.
The monthlong trial had all the classic themes of greed, hubris, betrayal and temptation. It was a tale, the way prosecutors told it, of absolute power corrupting absolutely.
Dorsey started out as a poor kid in New York, taking a train to Georgia by himself. He cleaned toilets for school fees, joined the Army, put himself through college and law school while working as a cop and then, in middle age, found himself at the peak of the area's law enforcement pyramid.
Along the way, he killed two men--one in the line of duty in 1965, another during a fistfight at a gas station in 1970.
Both times, he was cleared of any wrongdoing, though prosecutors in the Brown case suggested afterward that those two killings emboldened him.
"He had gotten so arrogant," lead prosecutor J. Tom Morgan said. "He actually thought he could get away with killing Derwin even though he knew he would be the prime suspect."
