The Sheriff Who Never Took Office
The Derwin Brown Murder, Sidney Dorsey, and a Conspiracy for Power Three days before Derwin Brown was supposed to take office as sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia, his life was cut short.
Brown had spent years in law enforcement before winning the 2000 election and defeating the incumbent sheriff, Sidney Dorsey. His victory promised a change in leadership at a powerful sheriff's office. But before Brown could begin his first day as sheriff, he was dead.
At first, investigators faced a difficult question: Who would want an elected sheriff dead-and why?
As the investigation developed, attention turned toward the political and professional world surrounding Brown's election. Witnesses eventually came forward with accounts that placed former sheriff Sidney Dorsey at the center of an alleged conspiracy to eliminate his successor. But witness testimony brought its own challenges, and proving what had happened would require more than accusations.
The case would expose allegations of corruption, misuse of public resources, abuse of political power, and a murder-for-hire conspiracy. It would also produce one of the most complicated legal journeys in the case's history: an acquittal in the first trial of two alleged participants, followed by Dorsey's conviction in state court and later federal convictions against others connected to the murder.
Drawing from court records, contemporary reporting, public documents, and the historical record,
The Sheriff Who Never Took Office reconstructs the investigation and prosecutions surrounding Derwin Brown's murder.
It is the story of an election that promised change, a sheriff who never had the opportunity to lead, witnesses whose testimony transformed the investigation, and a prosecution that continued even after its first major courtroom setback.
At its heart, this is the story of Derwin Brown-a law-enforcement officer, husband, father, and elected sheriff whose future was taken away just days before he was supposed to begin it.
