- 2 days ago
Sidney Dorsey is the first African American sheriff in DeKalb County, Ga.; after he wins on an anti-corruption ticket, revelations of him abusing the power of the office for money, sexual favors and deadly vengeance shock voters.
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00:01Sidney Dorsey was the first African-American sheriff in DeKalb County.
00:07It was a momentous achievement.
00:09I think Sidney Dorsey was a pioneer.
00:12DeKalb County had a history of corrupt sheriffs.
00:16They needed a sheriff who was going to come in and kind of right the ship.
00:19We're concerned about dealing with the future.
00:22They should be addressed, and you can be certain that we shall address them.
00:26He was seen as no-nonsense, get things done, solve cases.
00:31Mr. Dorsey was getting results. The world was his oyster.
00:35The sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official in the county.
00:39And with that comes power.
00:44Power brought him sense. Power brought him money.
00:47He would use any means necessary to keep that power, including murder.
00:56We are one of the miners last few, in the region.
00:59Another young boy has been found dead in the , Atlanta area.
01:13He is by the city of Montesstorz, trauma.
01:18We are squärting.
01:20Another young boy has been found dead in the . Atlanta area.
01:24been found dead in the Atlanta area. This past year, nine children aged between 7 and 14 have
01:31disappeared. From 1979 to 1981, at least 28 children or young adults from the city of Atlanta
01:39were murdered and sometimes sexually assaulted. All the victims were African American. It was
01:46every week or so that they would find another body or somebody else would go missing. There was
01:51a team of a hundred detectives from the Atlanta Police Department. Atlanta Police Detective
01:57Sidney Dorsey, tough, experienced, streetwise. Sidney Dorsey was appointed as the co-lead
02:05detective, which gave him incredible power within the African American community and incredible
02:12respect. The pressure to get a case like that solved would be tremendous. So do you get the
02:18feeling that things are more together after tonight than they were last night? Yes, I
02:21have this distinct feeling. He was one of the lead detectives in apprehending the suspect,
02:27Dwayne Williams. Mr. Dorsey loved the camera. I think that the narcotics division are doing
02:35a fantastic job. Naturally, I'd rather not have any homicides. And he was very good at giving
02:42interviews. He had a swagger about him. He looked and acted like a lot of people thought a homicide
02:48cop should look and act. And he played it to the hilt. He became a very important player inside the
02:55Atlanta Police Department. And he had the respect of his community. Sidney Dorsey was born in 1940. He was
03:08not born into privilege. He was like many African Americans, hoping to have a better life for his
03:14family, hoping to succeed, hoping to become somebody. Sidney Dorsey was one of the early African Americans
03:20to join the Atlanta Police Department. Mr. Dorsey worked his way from a beat cop to a motorcycle cop
03:28to a street cop, ultimately to a detective. There was an effort on the part of city leaders to bring
03:36African Americans into the police department. I was one of the first African American students
03:43to go to a school in the district I grew up in south of Atlanta. It was good for the African American
03:49community to see black officers wearing law enforcement uniform. He was known in the black
03:56community. He was accepted in the black community. He could talk to people in the black community
04:01that white cops could not. I think Sidney Dorsey was a pioneer in rising to the right
04:06of homicide detective at that time in that department, I think was a significant achievement
04:10and something that people noticed and paid attention to. He was very ambitious. He loved
04:16being a cop, but he also loved the authority and the privileges it gave him to be a police
04:23officer. When I first met Sidney Dorsey in person, I think he was a very prideful man. The way
04:29he conducted himself. He let you know that he was in charge.
04:36He was seen as no nonsense, get things done, get answers, solve cases.
04:42Mr. Dorsey was getting results and no one looked to see how he obtained those results.
04:48There was an incident where a teenager was parked next to Mr. Dorsey and both of them were filling their
04:54cars up with gas. Somehow the teenager spilled gas on Mr. Dorsey's car. There was an argument and Mr.
05:01Dorsey shot and killed him. This was an unarmed teenager. Mr. Dorsey alleged self-defense. There was
05:08an investigation, but in the end, there was someone who'd made it go away.
05:13I think Sidney Dorsey believed in law and order, but he also viewed that through his own personal
05:20prism. If he thought it was wrong, it was wrong. If he thought it was right, it was right.
05:27He ultimately met and married Sherry Dorsey, who was a city council member on the city of Atlanta.
05:33Sherry was beautiful. She was smart and she was ambitious. And Sidney was young, smart,
05:39and equally ambitious. And so together they became one of the premier power couples of Atlanta and
05:46Georgia. In 1996, Sidney Dorsey ran for sheriff of DeKalb County. And as much as he'd accomplished
05:59at that point in his life, the power structure laughed at it. He said, there's no way that an
06:04African-American will ever be elected sheriff in one of the largest counties in Georgia.
06:09I believe it was the first time an African-American had run for a position of sheriff in DeKalb County.
06:16He looked at the numbers, how quick the county was changing, and I thought he saw the writing on the
06:21wall. DeKalb County had a history of corrupt sheriffs, and Dorsey had the credentials of being a cop.
06:31And all of us were saying, it'd be nice to have a sheriff who was actually a police officer.
06:36DeKalb County needed an honest sheriff. They needed a sheriff who was going to come in and
06:41kind of right the ship.
06:43The sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official in the county.
06:47And he has a powerful position to hold.
06:50The sheriff can fire and hire at will.
06:54We're electing an individual to be in charge of a big operation, employing a thousand people.
07:01Sid Dorsey saw a pass to power, and he aggressively pursued it.
07:07With the race for sheriff in DeKalb County underway, Sidney Dorsey is odds-on favorite to become
07:13the county's first black CEO.
07:17He was going to bring integrity to the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.
07:21He was going to offer a change.
07:22Sidney Dorsey was successful, and he was the first African-American elected sheriff in DeKalb County.
07:33It was a momentous achievement.
07:36Mr. Dorsey was a very popular sheriff.
07:45His presence was demanded at all types of events, church events, funerals, fundraisers.
07:54He was a breath of fresh air in DeKalb County to have someone like him working in the sheriff's department.
08:00Sidney Dorsey had support from the community.
08:03It seems like he had a plan.
08:06It was primarily a strategy meeting, meetings with the commissioner, meeting with concerned citizens.
08:13We're now concerned about dealing with the future.
08:16They should be addressed, and you can be certain that we shall address them.
08:20The sheriff's department seemed to be functioning very well.
08:24He was proud to be the sheriff of DeKalb County, and I could tell he loves that power of being the sheriff.
08:33In mid-2000, my photographer Jim Bridges and I had just wrapped up a live shot for the newscast, and we decided to stop off and get a soft-serve ice cream at the Dairy Queen.
08:45I'm standing in line, waiting my turn, and I feel this tap on my back.
08:50And I turned around, and there was a gentleman standing there, and he says, you're Dale Cardwell with Channel 2.
08:54I said, yes, I am.
08:57He said, I've got a story that will shock you and be the biggest story you've ever told, but I don't know if you have the courage to tell it.
09:06Were you involved in the murder?
09:14Yes, sir.
09:15He handed me a paper that said, kill this man.
09:19In 40 years of investigative reporting, I've observed two types of sheriffs, regardless of what state I lived in.
09:30There's the quiet, behind-the-scenes power brokers who never want to be on the evening news, but they wield their power and their authority unchallenged.
09:40And then there are the showboats.
09:42Sidney Dorsey was a showboat.
09:44He slapped his name on everything.
09:46I would see Mr. Dorsey traveling around in a limousine with a driver.
09:53I saw his name on patrol cars.
09:55I saw his name on billboards.
09:57I saw his name on governmental offices that I went in and went out of.
10:01I just thought, why is this guy putting his name on everything?
10:05He liked to travel with a bevy of bodyguards around him.
10:09He would wear a uniform that had epaulets on it that no other sheriff in Georgia had.
10:15I thought, what vanity, and nobody was saying anything about him.
10:19He wanted to be a celebrity and wanted the attention of the public.
10:24I had no idea how profound the meeting in the Dairy Queen was going to be to not only my career, but for the city of Atlanta.
10:35When I called the person who handed me his card, he told me something that shocked me.
10:40He said, Sheriff Sidney Dorsey is using on-duty deputies to staff his private security jobs in counties all over the metropolitan Atlanta area.
10:53I said, you've got to be kidding me.
10:55While Sidney Dorsey was serving as sheriff, he was also operating SID Investigations, which was a private security company.
11:03Operating a private security company, if it was completely distinct from any operations in the sheriff's office, it's not illegal.
11:11It's not necessarily unethical.
11:14Dale Cardwell actually went to a bank and caught a detention officer on camera.
11:19Are you on the county clock right now?
11:21That's not your business.
11:23Oh, it is if I am a DeKalb County taxpayer.
11:26I'm still there, okay?
11:27Can you tell me if you're on the clock right now?
11:32I had to determine if Sidney Dorsey was breaking the law as in a blatant manner as it appeared to be.
11:38What does Sheriff Dorsey have to say about this?
11:41No comment.
11:42In fact, he's refused every request for an interview.
11:44Officer Murray just thought he was doing his job, being a sheriff's deputy, standing there at the bank.
11:53He had no idea that Mr. Dorsey's firm was getting paid for that service.
11:59Since the sheriff asked me to do it and he picked me to do it, I just, just being a good story, just follow an order.
12:04I was sure there was going to be a reasonable explanation about what had occurred.
12:09And I did not believe that Mr. Dorsey knowingly was guilty of corruption, that it could be just sloppy bookkeeping.
12:19If Mr. Dorsey knowingly was sending sheriff's deputies into security work and his security firm was getting paid for this work and the county was paying the sheriff's deputies, then it would be theft of services.
12:34I got a call from my director, J. Tom Morgan.
12:38I knew when J. Tom called and requested the GBI and me to do this investigation, I knew it was, it was going to be an unusual case.
12:46The GBI, Georgia Beer Investigations, we assist local law enforcement.
12:52That's how I got involved in this investigation.
12:55I've never had a case like this case.
12:59The most bizarre case I ever worked as an agent with the GBI.
13:02We were able to interview Officer Murray.
13:07On many occasions, he was ordered to go to banks or other places to provide security.
13:13He had no idea, none at all, until he saw himself on television, that he was working for SID, Mr. Dorsey's security firm.
13:24There were many instances with several different sheriff's employees being ordered to provide security for the security firm while they were being paid for the county.
13:36This was corruption.
13:37Well, it's serious because you're using the taxpayers' money for personal gain.
13:46Sidney Dorsey was using the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department and its $30-plus million budget at will.
13:54It was his playpen.
13:55He did anything he wanted to do.
13:57He would dispatch deputies to go pick up his kids or bring them a Happy Meal at school.
14:02Mr. Dorsey was stealing money from the citizens, and that's what caught a lot of people's attention.
14:10The public was able to see for the first time that Mr. Dorsey was not who they believed him to be,
14:18the highly decorated Atlanta police officer who was leading, with integrity, the Sheriff's Department.
14:25I was just highly disappointed.
14:27I think, unfortunately, ego gets in the way, and people take office, and they forget that they're here to serve,
14:34and they're looking to serve themselves.
14:39I remember the day that we aired the story, and our phone started ringing off the hook.
14:45The more evidence we gathered, the more I realized we had the story.
14:49This was the defining moment.
14:52I did not believe that Sidney Dorsey had the capability of being dangerous.
14:57Had I known that, it might have changed my actions.
15:01It's called Operation Facelift.
15:04Mrs. Dorsey's program is renovating homes across her district, all for free.
15:09The labor, of course, is free.
15:12Inmates from the county jail came courtesy of her husband, DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey.
15:17Dorsey was transporting inmates from the DeKalb County Jail to his wife's political district
15:25to perform various home improvement jobs.
15:30These were inmates that were facing sometimes very serious charges
15:35who were let loose with very little supervision.
15:39The whole purpose was to garner favor by the constituents of Mrs. Dorsey,
15:46but also for Mr. Dorsey to get votes.
16:03Sidney Dorsey was representing the African American community,
16:07so everybody was highly disappointed that he would come into the office
16:12and bring in more corruption.
16:16I think then it comes down to a question, okay, what's the motivation here?
16:21What's the most important thing to the sheriff at this point?
16:25Mr. Dorsey alleged it was a conspiracy to throw him out of office,
16:29that these were made-up lies.
16:31Sidney Dorsey was infuriated,
16:34and it was the first time that anyone associated with Sidney Dorsey threatened my life.
16:39One of his entourage came up to me and said,
16:42you're trailing in very, very dangerous water,
16:46and something very bad is going to happen to you unless you stop it.
16:49It frightened me.
16:51I had no idea what Sidney Dorsey was capable of.
16:56My reaction to that was,
16:58oh, God, they're serious.
17:00This is real.
17:00This is not pretend.
17:02This is life and death.
17:03I don't know if Sheriff Dorsey was corrupt when he became sheriff,
17:09but the things he was doing after he became sheriff was corrupt.
17:13His attitude was, he's a sheriff and he can do what he wants to do.
17:17As I started investigating Sidney Dorsey,
17:20these deputies, you know, were afraid to speak out.
17:23They were afraid to talk to me for fear of retaliation.
17:26Some time in October, Special Agent Mays contacted me.
17:34He said that he was about to interview someone that had pertinent and relevant information
17:41about the corruption going on in the sheriff's department.
17:43And the next day, he showed up in my office.
17:48Fred Mays had a confidential interview with the owner of a bonding company named Shirley McMichael.
17:55Ms. McMichael, she applied to be a bondsperson in Decap County.
18:00Next thing she knew, she had been granted the authority to operate a bonding company in Decap.
18:07Her financial situation overnight changed dramatically from making about $20,000 a year to a yearly income starting at $150,000 a year.
18:19Cindy Dorsey told her that there was a price to pay to operate a bonding company in Decap County,
18:30and she had to pay that price.
18:33That price was sex and money.
18:42I was stunned to discover that the high sheriff of Decap County
18:48has absolute authority to do what they think is proper or improper.
18:55You have food service contracts.
18:57You have security contracts.
18:59You have fleet contracts.
19:01These contracts are worth millions and millions of dollars.
19:04Sidney Dorsey was a man with power,
19:07and he definitely used the power to his benefit.
19:10And he felt like he was on top of the world.
19:13He could do what he wanted to do.
19:14The bonding company works out of a jail at the approval of the sheriff,
19:22and Shirley MacMichael owned a bonding company.
19:25She testified later that the only way she was able to get that license
19:29was to have sex with the sheriff anytime he wanted to have sex.
19:34Shirley MacMichael described how Sidney Dorsey would come over to her house
19:38to have sex with her.
19:40He would take his gun and lay it on the coffee table there.
19:44She said she was intimidated by him.
19:48Sidney Dorsey was making her give him thousands of dollars
19:52to keep her bonding company inside his jail,
19:55and he was extorting money from her.
19:58There was not going to be a paper trail of the money.
20:00In fact, one time, Ms. McMichael wrote him a check.
20:05He tore the check up and ate it and said,
20:08I only take cash.
20:10The things he was making her do
20:12and the money he was making her pay him,
20:15to me, that was shocking.
20:17She was scared.
20:18She was afraid of Sidney Dorsey.
20:20Out of fact, one night,
20:22she came home and her door was open,
20:25and she called me,
20:27and we went and cleared her house for her,
20:30making sure no one was there before she went in.
20:33To treat a person like he was treating Shirley MacMichael,
20:37that was shocking.
20:39I knew this investigation had just taken a 90-degree turn.
20:43My phone would not stop ringing.
20:45With stories about the corruption in the sheriff's department,
20:49the floodgates opened.
20:50One lady alleged that she was not being promoted
20:55in the sheriff's department
20:56because she refused to have sex with the sheriff.
21:00There were stories that Sidney Dorsey
21:02was handing out sheriff's deputies' badges like candy.
21:06There was nothing he would stop at.
21:08I believe the public face of Sidney Dorsey
21:11was family man, churchgoer, law enforcement authority,
21:16and that the private Sidney Dorsey was womanizer,
21:19miscreant, and abuser.
21:23My immediate reaction was,
21:25wow, Sid Dorsey is as out of control
21:28as his personality seems to allow him to be.
21:32For him to become sheriff of a big county like DeKalb,
21:35he had to have been popular.
21:38And a lot of times, political candidates
21:41will align themselves with big churches in the area,
21:45and that the minister of those congregations
21:48will encourage their congregation
21:51to vote for certain kind of candidates.
21:54Sidney Dorsey built his base of power
21:57in African-American churches throughout DeKalb County.
22:01A lot of the leadership of those churches were women.
22:04And so the thought of Sidney Dorsey
22:06using his power as sheriff
22:07to force women to have sex with him
22:09was unthinkable to a lot of those people.
22:14Without a doubt,
22:15Sidney Dorsey was running
22:16the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department
22:17as his own personal kingdom.
22:24In 2000, Sidney Dorsey would have been looking
22:27at his first re-election attempt.
22:29The main opponent was Derwin Brown.
22:31Captain Derwin Brown is head-to-head
22:33with Sheriff Dorsey
22:34in next week's runoff election.
22:36Sheriff Dorsey, I. Derwin Brown,
22:39is hereby calling upon you to step down.
22:45Captain Derwin Brown was my father.
22:48Derwin entered the police department
22:50in the early 80s.
22:52When people would see him,
22:53because he was so big,
22:54they would be afraid of him,
22:55and because he was a police officer,
22:57but he was a big teddy bear.
23:00My parents, once they met,
23:03they were inseparable.
23:04My parents are very family-oriented.
23:06My childhood was wonderful.
23:09I am a daddy's girl.
23:11I'm the only girl.
23:12I have four brothers.
23:13I had just turned 21.
23:15I had just gotten married.
23:17Good love, our beautiful, lovely, Derwin.
23:22My father became a police officer
23:25because he was always big
23:27about helping his community
23:28and being a change.
23:30He felt like you always
23:31would have more impact
23:33by being a part of the system
23:34you want to change
23:35rather than being on the outside
23:37trying to change it.
23:38So I think it was just natural
23:40for him to become a police officer
23:41to figure out how to make the changes
23:43and be there for his people,
23:46and that's exactly what drove him
23:48to run for sheriff.
23:49He served his entire career
23:51with the police department.
23:52He had a very strong reputation.
23:54Most of his career
23:55had been spent in narcotics,
23:57and that's kind of where
23:58he made his name.
24:00He had a reputation
24:01for being honest, ethical.
24:04We all knew Derwin.
24:06We respected him.
24:07Every time he spoke,
24:08you knew he was speaking
24:09with honesty and integrity.
24:11He was very big
24:12about corruption cleanup.
24:14He knew the community
24:15deserved better.
24:18I think it's safe to say
24:19he didn't pull punches.
24:21He was talking about
24:22Sidney Dorsey being sheriff,
24:23that he had hoodwinked
24:24and bamboozled the citizens
24:25of DeKalb County.
24:27Mr. Brown repeatedly said,
24:29I will clean out the corruption
24:31that's going on
24:31in the DeKalb County
24:32Sheriff's Department.
24:33Mr. Dorsey was not
24:34the type of person
24:35who could accept criticism,
24:38and he became very angry
24:41at the allegations
24:42made toward him.
24:44I think that some people
24:45have simply gone
24:46across the line.
24:47I think that there are
24:49certain things
24:49that one must hold sacred,
24:52even in the area of politics.
24:54Sidney Dorsey's first mistake
24:56is that he pretended
24:57the allegations
24:58were not happening.
25:00He said,
25:01Durin Brown was the worst
25:03goddamn son of a bitch
25:05I've ever seen.
25:07Sidney Dorsey
25:08was a very arrogant person.
25:10He still felt like
25:11he was untouchable.
25:13He felt like
25:14because of who he was,
25:16he deserved to be
25:18in that position.
25:19It didn't matter
25:19whether he was doing
25:20good by it or not.
25:21He was in the office
25:22for himself
25:23and not for the people.
25:25In his mind,
25:26he thought that
25:26Derwin Brown was a newcomer,
25:28had no political experience,
25:30and that he would
25:31easily defeat him.
25:32All Sidney had to do
25:33was make the rounds
25:34of the churches,
25:36say that the sexual harassment
25:38allegations were false
25:39and contrived,
25:40and he would be fine.
25:41I just knew
25:42that my father wanted
25:43to get in that office,
25:44and he wanted to make a change
25:45and make a difference.
25:47He had already started
25:48making plans
25:49on what was to be done
25:50day one
25:51as soon as he walked
25:53through the door
25:53of the Sheriff's Department.
25:55Derwin Brown decided
25:57that if he was elected
25:58to office,
25:59he was terminating
26:0030-some-odd deputies
26:02and staffers
26:03at the DeKalb County
26:04Sheriff's Department.
26:05He was telling them
26:07that they would no longer
26:09be employed
26:09by DeKalb County
26:11and that they were
26:12to seek other employment.
26:14He knew some of the people
26:15were suspected of corruption.
26:16He did not want
26:17to work with them.
26:19I want to ask the public
26:22to come out
26:22and vote today.
26:23It's extremely important
26:24that we turn out.
26:29I could never imagine
26:31my dad not winning.
26:35Dorsey defeated by Brown
26:36by 3-1
26:37following an investigation
26:39that discovered corruption
26:40in Sheriff Dorsey's
26:41administration.
26:45No one a month
26:47earlier would have thought
26:48that Mr. Dorsey
26:48could be defeated.
26:50My dad knew
26:51what he had
26:52ahead of him
26:53and he was excited
26:55to be able to
26:56do right by the people
26:57and help make
26:59DeKalb County
27:00a better place
27:01and help his people.
27:03There he is.
27:06Give him a hand, please.
27:07Keep the focus on the people.
27:13Keep the values
27:14of the department
27:15even above yourself
27:16and you will have
27:19indeed a successful career.
27:21Congratulations!
27:22Congratulations!
27:24I felt on top
27:26of the world.
27:27Any win for him
27:28is a win for me.
27:30The voters of this county
27:31made history
27:32by showing that
27:34they were going to stand
27:35in the world, right?
27:39So the election night
27:41was a huge party.
27:42Family, friends
27:43were all there
27:44in celebration
27:45of him winning
27:46the election.
27:47My mom
27:48and her good friend
27:50left early.
27:51She was going home
27:52so she could surprise
27:53my dad.
27:54His new uniform
27:55that he had designed
27:56had come in
27:57and he hadn't seen it yet.
27:59And so she wanted
27:59to go and hang it up
28:00so when he walked
28:01through the door
28:02would be the first thing
28:02that he saw.
28:03I just went over to him,
28:05gave him a hug
28:06and a kiss,
28:06told him that I loved him
28:08and that I was happy
28:09for him.
28:10I'll see you
28:11in the morning.
28:16We got a phone call
28:17and it was my mom's friend.
28:20I could tell
28:21something wasn't right.
28:23All I heard her say
28:25is we got to go.
28:26Daddy's been shot.
28:27When we came
28:34into the neighborhood,
28:35they stopped us
28:36at the bottom
28:37of the street.
28:37They went and let us
28:38drive up
28:39and I just got out
28:40the car
28:40and I just started
28:41running up the street.
28:42I was just screaming
28:43like, where's my name?
28:48We finally made it
28:50to the hospital
28:50and I remember
28:52when I walked in,
28:53I'm just looking
28:53there was so many people.
28:55My dad's,
28:58he was going to be,
29:00I guess,
29:02his chief deputy.
29:03He came in the room
29:04and he looked
29:05and he wouldn't look
29:07at us in our face.
29:08He just looked up
29:08at the wall
29:09and he said,
29:10he's gone.
29:12And I'm like,
29:13what do you mean?
29:13He's gone.
29:16Because we were in disbelief
29:18that this would have happened.
29:32We had never had
29:34an incident in Georgia
29:36where a sheriff-elect
29:38had been assassinated.
29:40People all around
29:41the country
29:41and frankly,
29:42around the world
29:43were shocked
29:44at this happening
29:44in Georgia.
29:46The personal persons
29:47capable of doing this,
29:50they were capable
29:50of doing anything
29:51and stopping at nothing.
29:53At the DeKalb County
29:54Police Department,
29:55they were able
29:56to locate a number
29:56of expended cartridge shells
29:58and they were able
29:59to determine
30:00what kind of weapon
30:01was used.
30:02It was a Tech 9,
30:04which is a 9mm,
30:05what looks a little bit
30:06like a submachine gun.
30:08It was a somewhat
30:08unusual weapon.
30:11Seeing the election process
30:12subverted through
30:13an act of outright murder,
30:15I was certainly open
30:16to that possibility
30:17that maybe somebody
30:18would want him
30:19not to take office.
30:20Sidney Dorsey
30:21was still the elected sheriff.
30:23He released a statement.
30:24I extend my most deepest
30:26and most humblest
30:27condolences
30:29to the Brown family.
30:35By the hundreds,
30:36they filed into
30:37the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.
30:39Phyllis Brown,
30:40the widow of the sheriff-elect,
30:42held her head high.
30:43and I don't think
30:45DeKalb County
30:46has ever seen
30:47such a thing.
30:49Everybody was just
30:50in disbelief
30:51that this
30:52could even be possible.
30:54It was the biggest funeral
30:55that I personally
30:57have ever attended.
30:58At least over 2,000 people.
31:01Derwin Brown
31:02made a difference
31:04in the lives
31:05of so many people.
31:06the state of Georgia
31:07honors him today.
31:18I'd certainly been involved
31:19in complicated murders before,
31:21but this was definitely
31:22new territory.
31:23Everyone was a suspect
31:24at that time.
31:25Everyone who had
31:26some kind of connection
31:28to what happened.
31:29As far as motivation,
31:31there were 38 people
31:32who were about
31:33to be fired.
31:34Patrick Cuffey
31:35was a deputy
31:36that had been hired
31:37by Sidney Dorsey.
31:39Patrick Cuffey
31:39had been on
31:40Derwin Brown's list
31:41to be terminated
31:42when he took office.
31:44He was looking at
31:45going from making
31:46a lot of money
31:47to making no money,
31:48being unemployed.
31:50He had a vested interest
31:51in Derwin Brown's murder.
31:55A school resource officer
31:57contacted the task force
31:59and said,
31:59hey, we stopped him
32:01before the murder,
32:02not far from
32:03Derwin Brown's house.
32:05So the school resource officer
32:06saw these four men,
32:07all dressed in black.
32:10Patrick Cuffey
32:11told them that he was on,
32:12quote,
32:13a special assignment
32:14given to him
32:16by none other
32:16than Sheriff Sidney Dorsey
32:18and got Sheriff Dorsey
32:21on the phone
32:22and Sheriff Dorsey
32:23told the school resource officer,
32:26yes, these men work for me.
32:27They're on a special
32:28secret assignment.
32:29I believe Mr. Dorsey
32:32was involved
32:33in the assassination
32:34of his opponent.
32:36I wanted to interview
32:37Patrick Cuffey.
32:39J. Tom called him in
32:41and offered him a deal.
32:43He was basically asking him
32:44to tell what Dorsey was doing.
32:46And I offered him immunity
32:49that I would not prosecute him
32:51for stealing from the county.
32:54And Cuffey said,
32:55nope, I'm not going to do it,
32:56and walked out.
32:58He was not cooperating.
33:00He told me
33:02in no uncertain terms
33:03that Dorsey was
33:04a great American
33:05and that he would never
33:07testify against
33:09his mentor
33:10and his boss.
33:12Mr. Dorsey had
33:13a solid alibi
33:14that at the time
33:15of the homicide,
33:16he was home
33:17with his wife.
33:19I was wondering
33:21whether or not
33:22we could solve this case.
33:27It was in March of 2001.
33:30There was a shooting
33:30that took place
33:31at Patrick Cuffey's house.
33:33Somebody had been shot.
33:34They'd been killed.
33:35This was a drug deal
33:36going on in Cuffey's yard.
33:38And under Georgia law,
33:40felony murder
33:41is a homicide
33:42that occurs
33:44during the commission
33:44of a felony.
33:46So Mr. Cuffey
33:47was charged
33:48with felony murder.
33:50That was a great opportunity
33:52to get Patrick
33:53to talk about
33:54Mr. Dorsey's involvement
33:55with Sheriff Brown's murder.
33:58His attorney
33:59proffered a deal
34:00in which
34:01Patrick Cuffey
34:01would be able
34:02to give information
34:03about Derwin Brown's murder
34:04in exchange for immunity.
34:06It was surreal
34:07because, you know,
34:07he had been
34:08kind of the number one suspect
34:09and now
34:10here we are
34:10sitting around
34:11at a table with him
34:12getting the whole story
34:13first person.
34:15He handed me a paper.
34:17When I opened it,
34:19he said
34:20kill Derwin Brown.
34:25If Sidney Dorsey
34:27ordered Derwin Brown's
34:28assassination,
34:29it's almost incomprehensible.
34:31I think you'd have
34:31to assume
34:32that he thought
34:33he was untouchable
34:34or beyond
34:35the scope of justice.
34:37Patrick Cuffey
34:37stated
34:38that he
34:39had received
34:40the call
34:40from Sheriff Dorsey
34:43to come to his house.
34:45Dorsey handed
34:46Cuffey a note
34:46saying
34:48kill Derwin Brown.
34:50And then he took
34:50the note back
34:51and ate it.
34:53There were three
34:53other people involved
34:54on the night
34:54of the murder.
34:55Patrick Cuffey
34:56was with
34:56Melvin Walker,
34:58David Ramsey,
34:58and Paul Skyers.
35:00Melvin Walker
35:01was already a deputy
35:02in the Sheriff's Department.
35:04The other two
35:05wanted to be deputies
35:06in the Sheriff's Department.
35:08So,
35:09Dorsey promised Cuffey
35:11that Skyers
35:12and Ramsey
35:14would get jobs
35:15in the Sheriff's Department
35:16and that Melvin Walker
35:19would be promoted
35:20if they all got together
35:22and killed
35:23Derwin Brown.
35:25When I was finished
35:26with the interview
35:27of Patrick Cuffey,
35:29I knew
35:29he was telling
35:30the truth.
35:31I had Cuffey
35:32call Paul Skyers.
35:33Paul Skyers
35:34was a getaway driver
35:35and would do
35:36anything Cuffey
35:37told him to.
35:38Paul Skyers
35:40corroborated
35:41everything Cuffey said,
35:42but I had to give
35:43two of those,
35:44as much as I hated it,
35:46two of those immunity
35:47if we were going
35:48to prosecute
35:49Sheriff Dorsey
35:50for this horrendous homicide.
35:52As a law enforcement officer,
35:54I don't like it,
35:55but sometimes
35:56you have to make
35:57a deal with the devil.
35:59Patrick Cuffey
36:00masterminded
36:01and organized it,
36:03but if Senator Dorsey
36:05hadn't ordered it,
36:06it never would have happened.
36:07Patrick Cuffey
36:09revealed something
36:10that we were
36:11absolutely shocked about.
36:13He said that
36:14after the assassination
36:16of Sheriff-elect
36:18Derwin Brown
36:19that the persons
36:20who were supposed
36:21to be assassinated
36:22in this order
36:23were Sheriff-elect
36:24Derwin Brown,
36:25myself,
36:26and then reporter
36:28Dale Cardwell.
36:29Cuffey, I believe,
36:31decided to come clean
36:32because he was looking
36:32at probably 10 years
36:34in prison,
36:34and this was the only way
36:36he was going
36:37to get out of that
36:38and we just went
36:39forward from there.
36:40Based on the evidence,
36:41Sidney Dorsey,
36:42whether he pulled the trigger,
36:43whether he drove
36:44the getaway car,
36:45whether he gave the order
36:46and incentive to do it,
36:48he was involved.
36:49Sidney Dorsey shared
36:50in the responsibility
36:51for Derwin Brown's murder.
36:53Any party to the crime
36:54of murder
36:55can be charged with murder
36:56and that's all it requires
36:58under Georgia law.
37:00Dorsey's plan behind all this
37:02was that he was going
37:02to retake the office
37:03of sheriff
37:04and that things
37:05were going to continue on.
37:06Sidney Dorsey used to wear
37:08the medal of a sheriff.
37:10Today, he was paraded
37:11in handcuffs and chains
37:12as the man police believe
37:14murdered Derwin Brown.
37:16It was huge, huge news.
37:18I think people wanted
37:19to think that it was
37:21a random act
37:22or that it was something else,
37:23but not that a sitting sheriff
37:24would do this
37:25to a political rival.
37:26I felt some sort of relief
37:31when I heard
37:32that Sidney Dorsey
37:33had been arrested
37:34along with the other people
37:36that were involved
37:38because I thought
37:39that finally justice
37:40would be served.
37:43He was charged with murder
37:44and then he was charged
37:45with RICO crimes,
37:48which is the racketeering,
37:49basically using the sheriff's office
37:51as a criminal organization.
37:54Theft of services,
37:55theft of government employees,
37:56the slew of corruption charges,
37:59and then, of course,
37:59the more important,
38:00the murder charge.
38:01Our strategy
38:02in prosecuting Mr. Dorsey
38:04was to prove his narcissism,
38:07his arrogance,
38:08and his motivation
38:09to keep his job.
38:11And in doing that,
38:12we had to prove
38:13how corrupt
38:14the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department
38:16was under his leadership.
38:18We had built a strong case
38:20and the question is,
38:21could we convince a jury
38:23that what we said
38:24had happened, had happened?
38:25We were nervous the whole time
38:27because we didn't know
38:28which way it was going to turn out.
38:30I have no faith
38:31in the justice system.
38:32Sidney Dorsey sat in the courtroom
38:34and he looked as if
38:36he didn't have a care in the world.
38:38I don't think he felt
38:40that he was going to go down.
38:41This case is about power
38:43and one man's total consumption
38:45with power
38:46and what he will do
38:47to keep power
38:48at all costs.
38:50Sidney Dorsey pled
38:52not guilty
38:53to all the counts
38:54levied against him.
38:59Everyone tries to read the jury
39:00as the jury walks in.
39:01You're trying to look.
39:02Are they smiling?
39:02Are they frowning?
39:03Are they looking at you?
39:04Are they not looking at you?
39:05And you just don't know
39:06until you hear the,
39:07until you hear the verdict.
39:08Sidney Dorsey was sentenced
39:21to life plus 23 years
39:23to serve in prison.
39:25He was acquitted, however,
39:27of the robbery involving
39:28Shirley McMichael
39:29and the bonding company.
39:32So effectively,
39:33it's a life without parole sentence.
39:35Sidney Dorsey won't die
39:38behind bars.
39:40Hearing the amount of time
39:42that he received
39:43and knowing that
39:44there was no possibility
39:45for him to get out,
39:47it was relief.
39:49If I was able to sit down
39:50with Sidney Dorsey
39:51for five minutes,
39:52the first thing I would ask him
39:54is, was it worth it?
39:56Was it worth it?
39:59The second thing
40:00I would ask him
40:02is really why.
40:05Mr. Dorsey loved
40:07the trappings of power.
40:09He also loved
40:10what power brought him.
40:12Power brought him sets.
40:14Power brought him money.
40:15Power brought him control
40:17over other people.
40:19I've never had an experience
40:20more profound
40:21in terms of absolute power
40:23corrupts absolutely
40:24than I had
40:25when I started learning
40:26about the extent
40:27of the corruption
40:27under Sidney Dorsey.
40:30Detest the true character
40:32of a person
40:33gives him power.
40:35And it was all about power
40:37with Sidney Dorsey.
40:38His arrogance,
40:40his narcissism,
40:41and his delusion
40:42causing him to believe
40:44that after losing
40:45an election,
40:46he could assassinate
40:47his opponent
40:48and win re-election.
40:49It is the epitome
40:51of a narcissistic individual.
40:55He changed the trajectory
40:57of our entire family.
40:58My father was our rock.
41:01And then for so many people.
41:03And he just took it away
41:07as if it was nothing.
41:10I miss him.
41:13I miss him.
41:14I miss him.
41:23I miss him.
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