Immunity Denied, Greg Gunn Murder Case Headed to Trial

It was a day full of testimonies from a detective that lead the SBI investigation to an officer who had a run in with Greg Gunn years ago.
But perhaps the biggest testimony was from Aaron Smith himself.
He was on trial for over an hour, calm with little or no emotion, retelling what happened in the early morning hours of February 25, 2016.
He said Gunn fit the description of a suspected burglar in the area.
He said originally Gunn was compliant but then started to flee when he called for back up.
Smith said he called for backup because he felt a hard object near Gunn’s waist that felt like a gun during a pat down search.
The body camera was not on. Smith said that he was preoccupied with keeping an eye on Gunn that it was the last thing on his mind.
Smith maintains he acted in self defense and feared for his life. During the testimony, he said several times that he felt the shooting was justified.

Ultimately, Judge Greg Griffin said Smith’s testimony was not credible.
And denied his request for immunity.

“The judge is making a decision on what he heard in the courtroom. And he is making decision that he is not immune for prosecution, which was what this hearing was all about. It means this case will proceed to trial, which is what we wanted from the beginning,” said District Attorney Daryl Bailey.

The defense says they will appeal the judge’s decision with hopes it will not taint the next jury.

“We may be not able to convince this jury but may be able to convince another jury on a fresh start somewhere else,” said Defense Attorney Mickey McDermott.

McDermott says in the meantime, they will prepare for the August 13th trial date.