A preliminary hearing began Tuesday in the case against retired Atlanta police officer Sung Kim, who is charged in the 2019 shooting death of Adamsville resident Jimmy Atchison.
Kim was one of multiple APD officers on an FBI fugitive task force that was pursuing Atchison for allegedly stealing a woman’s purse and cellphone at gunpoint. After Atchison’s death, a witness said there was no gun or force involved in the alleged armed robbery.
The 21-year-old had evaded the task force twice but was found hiding beneath a pile of clothes in the closet of an apartment when its owner alerted police of his presence. An FBI agent and another APD officer were at the scene. One officer told him not to move, while another told him to come out with his hands raised. Kim fatally shot Atchison in the face as he exited the closet.
The Fulton County district attorney’s office indicted Kim in 2022 on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, and violating his oath of office.
The two-day evidentiary hearing is a long time coming for Atchison’s family, members of which have been marching, speaking out, and demanding justice for his death since it happened more than five years ago, when protests erupted around the city. Atchison’s aunt and other supporters of the family were present at the Richard B. Russell federal courthouse in downtown Atlanta for Tuesday’s hearing.
“The family shouldn’t have to fight so hard for justice,” said Shenita Binns, an Atlanta-based racial justice activist. “I’ve seen his family’s sweat, blood, and tears just trying to get their story heard.”
The prosecution suggests that as the case lead, Kim could have called SWAT to apprehend Atchison rather than trying to engage him. His defense attorneys contend he acted in self-defense when Atchison raised a fist, which they say Kim mistook for a gun.
“I reached the conclusion he was going to apply deadly force to us when he raised his hand,” FBI agent Matthew Winn testified on Tuesday.
Other law enforcement testified that while they had not received any reports of Atchison having a gun, he was considered armed and dangerous due to the warrant for his arrest.
“[Hearing] the side of what the officers saw, I felt the last witness contradicted himself to cover up Sung Kim’s mistakes,” said Porchse Miller, a local activist with BLM Grassroots and the DeKalb County NAACP.
Though he was charged by the district attorney’s office in Fulton County Superior Court, Kim’s attorneys successfully petitioned to have his case moved to federal court last year, due to his role on a federal task force at the time of the shooting.
Atchison’s family hoped the case would be tried in state court, as they believe federal court is more likely to grant officers qualified immunity, which is a legal doctrine that protects government officials from being sued unless it is shown they violated the victim’s constitutional rights.
Though Atlanta police were required to wear body cameras at the time of Atchison’s killing, Kim and other task force members were not outfitted with them as they were prohibited by federal policy. The incident caused APD to require all officers to wear their body cameras — even while serving on a federal task force.
Atchison’s father, Jimmy Hill, spoke in front of a United Nations delegation to the U.S. last year about his family’s continued fight for justice.
“We knew from day one, the shooting of my son was not justified and should never have happened,” Hill told the delegation in April 2023. “Kill, hide behind your badge, and tell a lie that you fear for your life.”
U.S. District Judge Michael Brown is expected to decide in the coming months whether Kim will have to stand trial for his murder charge or if he acted in self-defense and is thus immune from prosecution.
