Looks like we’re just supposed to take the word of Tim Martin, the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Augusta County, that the actions of two unnamed Augusta County sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed Dustin Griffin on the night of Dec. 17 were “not only justified, but entirely necessary.”
Martin released a lengthy statement on Wednesday declaring, without supporting documentation, that Griffin, 42, “attempted to murder an Augusta County sheriff’s deputy.”
“Because Griffin died at the scene, he cannot be charged with the multitude of crimes he committed that night, including attempted aggravated murder, aggravated malicious wounding, using a firearm in multiple felonies, and possession of a firearm by a felon,” Martin wrote in the statement.
“Obviously, none of the deputies will face charges for their lifesaving actions that night,” Martin wrote.
ICYMI
- Augusta County: Man killed in officer-involved shooting; one deputy airlifted
- Augusta County: Medical examiner confirms ID of man shot, killed by deputy
- The story of the man killed in Augusta County officer-involved shooting
Immediately after the shooting, Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith said he had handed over the investigation into the shooting to the Virginia State Police.
Odd, it seems to me, that Martin didn’t similarly recuse himself from having a role in this case, particularly given the personal nature of his attempt to present the facts of the case.
Martin’s lengthy statement released on Wednesday did not reference any investigation by any agency, the State Police or otherwise.
I reached out to him after getting the email with the PDF of his statement to ask if he had gotten a final report from the VSP, for information on the charges on which deputies were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for Griffin, and for access to bodycam footage from the deputies.
No response yet.
I also reached out to a media contact for the State Police to inquire about the status of any reports it had on file for the Griffin case, and for the bodycam footage from the deputies.
The answer back:
“The BCI lieutenant said you would need to submit a FOIA request.”
To be clear here, there’s no state law mandating that the State Police or any other agency can only release reports to the media or the general public through a Freedom of Information Act request.
An email, letter, phone call or an interaction face-to-face in which a person were to ask for a report from a government agency carries the same weight as a formal FOIA request.
This is a delaying tactic; the clock is now ticking, five working days for the State Police to respond.
Look, it may very well end up being the case that what Martin reported in his narrative – that’s the best way I think to describe it; it doesn’t read as anything that a prosecutor would put out, with its rhetorical flourish – ends up being accurate.
Per the report:
“One deputy – who was known to Griffin – activated his emergency lights. In response to this, Griffin fled on foot. Once that deputy and one other caught up to Griffin, he fought them. A physical struggle among the three of them then took place on the ground.
“During the struggle, Griffin reached into his clothing and retrieved a firearm. He then pointed it at one of the deputies and fired, striking the deputy in the arm and severely wounding him. Before firing again, a third deputy, who was standing nearby, shot Griffin while Griffin’s gun was still in his hand. This allowed the deputy who remained engaged with Griffin to access his own firearm and shoot Griffin once. All of the gunfire occurred within a matter of seconds.”
This is where the bodycam footage will play a key role in ascertaining the facts as described by Martin in his narrative.
Please, God, don’t let the answer be – the deputies didn’t have their bodycams turned on that night.
We can’t get an answer that this is the word of three deputies against the lack of word of the dead guy.
I would have assumed that, given the public focus on this case, Martin, the State Police and the sheriff would have gone public with the findings in the investigation with more than a single poorly written PDF, but rather, a presentation including written accounts of the deputies on the scene, any other potential witnesses to what happened, and importantly, the bodycam footage, to erase any doubts as to what happened.
Now it seems it’s up to us at AFP to track all of this down.
I’m not going into that work assuming anything as to what we will ultimately find.
The truth is what it is.
It seems here that the authorities just want people to take their word for it.
Sorry that the world is the way it is, but we can’t just take their word for it.
Tim Martin letter
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Chris Graham
