DECISION ON WALKER CASE NOT LIKELY BEFORE AUGUST

Case Load, DA's Contested Election Cited As Reasons

The investigation into the shooting of Kenneth Walker won't be taking
its next step until some time in August. Dougherty County District
Attorney Kenneth Hodges, who was assigned the case in March by
Attorney General Thurbert Baker, originally anticipated completing the
investigation within 90 days. That would have meant possible
presentation of the case to the Muscogee County grand jury the first
week in June. But Hodges now is not expected to reach that stage until
at least the first week in August, about five months after Muscogee
District Attorney Gray Conger gave him the case files. Conger said he
recused himself from the case due to previous ties he and his staff
had with Muscogee County Sheriff's Deputy David Glisson, who fatally
shot the unarmed Walker during a drug investigation last December.
Hodges has indicated the activities of his own office's criminal case
load, plus a contested election for his office, made it impossible to
meet that optimistic timetable. On June 3, the prosecutor said he
expected to be prepared to reach a decision on a course of action
within 60 days. Among the options facing Hodges are:

Present the case to the Muscogee County grand jury, which would decide
whether the shooting of Walker was a criminal act.

Reach an independent conclusion that the case involves no criminal act and
will not be presented to a grand jury.

Determine that the case should be presented to a grand jury in another
jurisdiction, due to possible prejudice among potential grand jurors in the
Columbus area due to extensive publicity about the case. Hodges has refused
to discuss details of the case, commenting only on his expected timetable
for conclusion.