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Now in its eighth season, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Breakdown podcast returns with host Bill Rankin to examine the case of Ahmaud Arbery. On Feb. 23, Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot three times as he jogged through the Satilla Shores neighborhood just outside of coastal Brunswick, where he was confronted by two white men. Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, who took the now-familiar video of the incident, ...
Since Ahmaud Arbery's death, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael have been condemned by many as racist vigilantes who targeted a Black man running down their street. Attorneys for the men claim that is far from true. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores the McMichaels' history prior to their fateful meeting with Ahmaud Arbery. Nothing could…
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S08, Ep3: How Georgia lets citizens arrest fellow citizens
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An attorney for one of the three men accused of chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery in February says the group's actions are legally justifiable by a law dating back all the way to the 1860s. Meanwhile, Georgia's legislature is considering repealing the law because of the case. Join host Bill Rankin as he examines what Georgia's citizen's arrest law …
Protests in Atlanta attract national attention as a preliminary hearing in Brunswick begins. During the probable cause hearing, there is only one witness: the lead investigator on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A tragic shooting has thrust coastal Georgia onto the national scene. On Feb. 23, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American man, was shot three times in a neighborhood near Brunswick, where he was confronted by two white men. The video of the shooting has now been seen by millions. In this special episode of Breakdown, hosts Bill Rankin and Gre…
In this special episode of Breakdown, AJC reporter Joshua Sharpe decided to take a close look at a 35-year-old double murder case. An African-American couple was shot and killed inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Camden County, Ga. Dennis Perry was convicted of the killings and has been in prison for 20 years for them. What Sharpe found out i…
Chip Olsen's fate is now in the hands of the jury. Will the ex-cop end up behind bars? We take you through the murder trial's dramatic conclusion and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After a rocky start, prosecutors come out swinging in the murder trial of Chip Olsen. One of their star witnesses: Olsen's own police academy instructor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Testimony begins in the murder trial of Robert "Chip" Olsen and a trio of witnesses who saw Anthony Hill's final moments take the stand for the state. But do they help or hurt the prosecution's case? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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S07, Ep6: Unarmed. Unclothed. Unable to Harm?
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A jury is seated and Chip Olsen's murder trial is finally underway. The ex-cop's defense lawyer said he fired at Anthony Hill because he was terrified as the naked man ran at him. But the prosecution offers a surprising new theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chip Olsen's legal team turns to a mock jury to road test their defense strategy. Jurors had a lot of questions and some strong opinions. And what will the lawyers be looking for when they select a real jury? This murder case could turn conventional wisdom on its head. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
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S07, Ep4: Policing a mental health crisis
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When Anthony Hill was killed by DeKalb County Police Officer Robert “Chip” Olsen in 2015 he became the latest casualty in a growing crisis: One in every four people shot and killed by police is suffering from mental illness. Why do police encounters with the mentally ill turn deadly so often? And would Hill be alive today if DeKalb had done more to…
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S07, Ep3: 'Impervious to pain, superhuman strength'
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Former Police Officer Chip Olsen takes the stand in a risky gamble to try to get the murder charges against him dismissed. Does it pay off? And his lawyers push a controversial defense used by cops to justify the use of force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who is Chip Olsen? The cop who shot and killed Anthony Hill followed an unusual path to the force. We’ll tell you why it’s so rare to indict police officers who kill in the line of duty. And we’ll take you inside the surprising revelation that convinced the DeKalb DA to not only charge Olsen, but to charge him with murder. Learn more about your ad …
On March 9, 2015, the manager of the Heights at Chamblee apartment complex called 911 to report that a man was wandering the grounds naked in the middle of the afternoon. Soon afterward, he was dead, shot and killed by the DeKalb County police officer who arrived at the scene. Who was Anthony Hill, the 26-year-old Afghanistan war veteran whose life…
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Coming soon: The 7th season of Breakdown
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Anthony Hill was a loving son, talented musician and an Afghanistan War veteran. In 2015, Hill was shot and killed by DeKalb County Police officer Chip Olsen, who was responding to a 911 call of a naked man wandering an apartment complex. Hill was unarmed and off of his medications. Olsen claims he acted in self-defense. In our new season of Breakd…
The jury in the McIver murder case finally comes back -- after four days -- and delivers a confusing verdict that appears to say McIver intended to shoot his wife, Diane, but didn't intend to kill her. The closing arguments, four separate addresses by some of the best lawyers in Georgia, were every bit the spectacle that you'd imagine. Learn more a…
The jury in the Tex McIver murder case gets the case and deliberates, and deliberates, and deliberates. One of the last things the jury asked for was permission to see, for a second time, the SUV in which Diane McIver was shot, AND they ask to take the .38 revolver with them to the car. So some of them sat where Tex sat and pulled the trigger that …
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S05, Ep10: Surprises from the defense
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The state rests after putting up more 70 witnesses. The defense case-in-chief takes only 2 1/2 days. The mysterious masseuse, Annie Anderson, takes the stand. And the executor for Diane McIver's estate has a surprise in store for the prosecution. Then the defense rests, and we're down to couple of rebuttal witnesses from the prosecution. Learn more…
The prosecution puts up the chief homicide investigator in the Tex McIver murder case and then tries its best to show how deficient the police investigation was. Normally, the district attorney and the police are on the same side. But not this time. The police charged McIver with involuntary manslaughter, but the DA went with malice murder -- convi…
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S05, Ep8: Killer, or just not a nice guy?
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The prosecution in Tex McIver's murder trial completes its third week -- a sometimes grueling slog in which the state seemed to be throwing just about everything it can find at McIver. Some if it may not be provable, but none of it looks good. And that seems to be the point. If prosecutors can't prove McIver is a cold-blooded killer, can they sway …
The state calls Dani Jo Carter -- the only witness to the shooting of Diane McIver. She is on the stand for more than two full days. She tells the prosecution that Tex McIver asked her to lie about being in the SUV that night. But she tells the defense that she stands by her earlier statements to police that Tex was asleep before the gun went off. …
The state opens the Claud "Tex" McIver murder trial by detonating some new bombshells. McIver, the prosecution says, provided six different versions of what happened to his wife on the night she was shot. Or did he? Among the first prosecution witnesses was Emory University Hospital ER physician Suzanne Hardy, who treated Diane McIver the night she…
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S05, Ep5: Prospective jurors: He did it
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One prospective juror after another is dismissed for cause because he or she believes Tex McIver intended to kill his wife. At the end of a long week of jury selection, the parties are finally able to qualify a pool of sufficient size that they can select 12 jurors and four alternates from it. But the defense must be troubled by the sheer number of…
Both the prosecution and the defense have enormous challenges facing them as the trial begins. For the prosecutors, it's a question of motive. For the defense, it's the defendant himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A hard-charging prosecutor goes up against a famed duo of defense attorneys as Claud "Tex" McIver's murder trial begins in one week. Chief Assistant DA Clint Rucker can dominate the courtroom by sheer force of his personality. Bruce Harvey and Don Samuel have a long history of (successfully) defending high-profile clients, from NFL stars to rappers…
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Coming soon: Back to the Tex McIver murder case
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After a long winter’s delay, the murder trial of The State v. Claud “Tex” McIver is to begin on March 5. Tex says his wife Diane’s death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says he intentionally shot her in the back. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bill Rankin returns to bring you Season 5 of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast. Learn mor…
The jury in the double-murder case of Nicholas Benton could not hang the verdict on any single piece of evidence or testimony. That is, nothing that came up in court was so compelling that it enabled the jury to declare "guilty" or "not guilty." But what about something that came up outside of court? AJC Editor Kevin Riley wraps up his insider's ac…
The jury elects a foreman and begins its deliberations. The cellphone evidence is strong, but jurors are concerned about the lack of physical evidence: no murder weapon, no getaway car, no fingerprints, no DNA. And the state's star witness may or may not be believable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
Nicholas Benton's murder trial gets underway. The state puts on a formidable case -- albeit with some big holes in it -- and then rests. Here comes the defense, and the jury can't wait to hear what Nick Benton will say when he gets to the stand. Meanwhile, if you'd like to talk with us about this case, join the AJC Breakdown Facebook group. Learn m…
First contact: An Atlanta homicide investigator goes to the home of the man who has emerged as his suspect. The man lives with his mother, and the detective winds up interviewing both. A year later, AJC Editor-in-Chief Kevin Riley gets his first indication that he will become deeply engaged in the outcome of this double homicide investigation. Lear…
Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, goes deep inside a double-murder in Atlanta. With extraordinary access to key players in the case, Riley and longtime Breakdown host Bill Rankin explore the sudden and vicious killings of Reggie Coicou and Quincy "Fat" Wytche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch…
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Coming soon: The next season of Breakdown
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Reginald "Reggie" Coicou was 24. Quincy "Fat" Wytche was 22. Both were killed in a sudden outburst of gunfire in the parking lot of an Atlanta Burger King in the spring of 2016. Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gives you an extraordinary inside view of this horrific double homicide, the investigation by the Atlanta …
Neither the prosecution nor the defense is ready. The prosecution asks for a continuance, saying it would be unfair to proceed because the defense is unprepared. The defense calls the move "transparently disingenuous," saying it's really the prosecution that wants more time. Meanwhile, prosecutors get slammed for continuing to search for a motive l…
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S05, Ep2: The courtship of Tex and Diane McIver
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Tex McIver couldn't get the new resident of the luxury condo complex out of his mind. She ignored all his entreaties to meet him, and he finally contrived to "bump into" her at the complex's gym early one morning. Diane was a powerful and successful businesswoman who eventually would marry Tex. But on a sultry September night a year ago, he killed …
Insisting it was an accident, Claud "Tex" McIVer will soon stand trial for the murder of his wife, Diane. Although Diane told ER surgeons it was an accident just before she died, the state has indicted Tex with malice murder. The year since Diane died has seen some extraordinary and often bizarre turns. This first episode of the new season of Break…
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Coming soon: The next season of Breakdown
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Coming soon: Season 5 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Breakdown podcast. This season, the AJC's Bill Rankin and Craig Schneider take you deep inside the case against Atlanta lawyer Tex McIver. He says his wife's death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says it was murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice…
Before she was killed that night at the Taco Bell in Adel, Donna Brown was a hardworking restaurant manager. a beloved sister and a completely devoted mother. And if we are to seek justice for Devonia Inman, we must also seek it for Donna Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
In the hearing on Devonia Inman's "extraordinary motion" for a new trial, another giant piece of the case against Inman seems to crumble and fall away. Did Inman commit the murder of which he was convicted? Was he even there when it happened? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
If Hercules Brown committed the murder of Taco Bell's night manager in 1998, then the authorities have put the wrong man, Devonia Inman, behind bars. But it gets worse than that. Much worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Did somebody else commit the murder of which Devonia Inman was convicted? He has always said so, Bill Rankin talks to witnesses who saw completely different things and zeroes in on a mask that police said was used in the crime. It wasn't a ski mask, says Rankin, it was an up-to-no-good mask. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch…
The jury that hears the case against Devonia Inman must go through the peculiar process of becoming "death qualified." Meanwhile, some key witnesses take the stand and say they really didn't see what they told police they saw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A vicious murder on a hot South Georgia night outside the local Taco Bell. The police build an impressive case against young Devonia Inman. Now it's 20 years later, and a law professor in Atlanta is determined to take that case apart and win Inman's freedom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
On July 17, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will launch Murder Below the Gnat Line, season four of our award-winning Breakdown podcast. Bill Rankin returns to explore a murder case with many unresolved questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A judge in Georgia signs off on a plea deal for Dr. Narendra K. Gupta, who admits to three counts of sexual battery against patients. No jail time, but he agrees to leave the country, surrender his license and never practice medicine again. Well, two out of three . . . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
In late 2011, Dr. Narendra K. Gupta stood before a Fulton County judge and pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. The conditions of his sentence were unusual: He didn’t have to go to jail. He did have to leave the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
An Ohio doctor has left his practice in the small city of Lima and moved to Atlanta. Also left behind in Ohio: the lawsuits and complaints that piled up against him, many of which were related to sexual abuse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Why would a doctor jeopardize his career by subjecting patients, nurses, even office staff, to repeated sexual abuse? In many cases, the physician doesn’t recognize boundaries because he doesn’t believe they apply to him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dr. Narendra K. Gupta had a history of allegations of attacking and harassing nurses. Instead of reporting him to police, the medical community shielded him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Breakdown: Predator, M.D., follows the fortunes of Dr. Gupta and many of the 18 women who claim the doctor abused them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Justin Ross Harris returns to Cobb County and is sentenced for the murder of his 22-month-old son Cooper. We delve into the contradictions in the jury's verdict. We also hear from some Breakdown listeners who seem to know as much about the case as anyone -- and have completely divergent views on the outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit …
