Attorneys for former DCSO deputies to present oral arguments to Court of Appeals
Published 5:30 pm Tuesday, July 11, 2017
The Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, will be where Umbach’s and Kine’s cases will be presented on July 28.
The U.S. Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments from attorneys representing Robert Umbach and Christopher Kines on July 28 in response to federal charges against the two former Decatur County deputies.
Kermit S. Dorough, representing Kines, and Jonathan R. Dodson, representing Umbach, filed a motion for 15 additional minutes before the Appellate Court judges.
Kines and Umbach filed for appeal after they were federally charged in 2015 for tampering with evidence related to an incident at Bainbridge BikeFest 2012.
“The court is discretionary,” Dorough said. “A lot of cases, people don’t even ask for it.”
According to Dorough, there are compelling arguments to be made against the sentencing that Kines and Umbach received and “significant errors” made.
Umbach and Kines were both sentenced to 15 months prison time followed by two years of supervised release. Umbach was fined $125, and Kines’ fine was waived.
After an altercation with civilian Ronnie Aaron Parrish and a subsequent cover up, the deputies were brought to a two-week trial. Former Grady County Sheriff’s Office deputy Wiley Griffin, IV was acquitted of his charge of Deprivation of Rights Under the Color of Law.Kines was found not guilty for False Reports, but found guilty for Tampering With Witness Evidence. Kines was involved in the altercation with Parrish, but reported false information to FBI special agent Steve McDermott about Griffin, IV’s, involvement with Parrish.Umbach was also charged with the same counts as Kines. He was found not guilty for False Reports but found guilty for Tampering With Witness Evidence for the same reasons as Kines.
