Georgia 's highest court on Tuesday threw out an indictment that charged a former police chief and a top aide with felonies for failing to investigate allegations of misconduct within their department.
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the 2021 indictment against former Glynn County Police Chief John Powell and Brian Scott, his former chief of staff, was fatally flawed by technical errors.
The decision could mark the end of efforts to prosecute Powell and Scott. Oath violation charges against both men were dismissed by the trial judge in September 2020, and prosecutors indicted them a second time almost a year later. Georgia law prohibits indicting the same person more than twice for the same “offense, charge, or allegation.”