Pubdate: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 Source: Toccoa Record, The (GA) Copyright: 2010 The Toccoa Record Contact: https://secure.townnews.com/thetoccoarecord.com/forms/letters.php Website: http://www.thetoccoarecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5073 Author: Rob Moore, The Northeast Georgian Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Jonathan+Ayers (Rev. Jonathan Ayers) NCIS OFFICER ON LEAVE PENDING PROBE The area drug enforcement officer at the center of a multi-million dollar lawsuit stemming from the fatal shooting of a Lavonia pastor last September has been placed on administrative leave. A civil lawsuit filed last week in federal district court by Abigail Ayers, widow of Jonathan Ayers, raised the question of whether drug agent Billy Shane Harrison was a sworn peace officer at the time he shot Ayers in Toccoa on Sept. 1, 2009. "On March 16, I was notified by WSB-TV that Ken Vance, the director of the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) council, had given an interview in which director Vance said that on Sept. 1, 2009, the day Jonathan Ayers was shot in Toccoa, deputy sheriff Billy Shane Harrison did not have the law enforcement power of arrest," said Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brian Rickman last week. "Mr. Vance said that there was an issue whereby Billy Shane Harrison did not have the requisite amount of training hours required by POST rules and regulations and Georgia state law." Harrison, was detached to the Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression (NCIS) team at the time of the incident. "Contained within the investigative file of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as turned over to the district attorney's office and subsequently released under the Georgia Open Records Act, are various training records and an investigative summary concerning an interview conducted by a GBI agent with a POST investigator during the course of the investigation into the shooting death of Jonathan Ayers. In that interview, which was a part of the investigative file relied upon by the GBI and the district attorney's office, the POST investigator is reported to have told the GBI in part that Billy Shane Harrison was a certified officer, actively employed, with no investigations. "It is unclear at this point if this issue was later discovered by POST, or if somehow this statement was not meant to convey that which it seemed upon its face," Rickman said. "What I am doing is trying to investigate it and find out," said NCIS team commander Kyle Bryant said last week, when asked about Harrison's certification. "I'm working with the folks who have the [training] records - other departments - and I'm trying work with the folks at POST." "This has created an issue that must be addressed," Rickman said. "The district attorney's office is making inquiry into this matter in an attempt to determine exactly what the status was as to Billy Shane Harrison's training requirements on Sept. 1, 2009, and what the status is now "This is important for two reasons. First, this should be examined to determine what, if any, legal effect this issue would have on the Jonathan Ayers case," Rickman said. "Second, to determine what, if any, legal effect this issue would have upon any pending criminal cases in which Billy Shane Harrison was involved as a law enforcement officer," he said. "This office will attempt to move as expeditiously as possible," Rickman said. "Once the facts are gathered and some definitive answers obtained, this office will consult with (Gwinnett County) district attorney Danny Porter and district attorney emeritus Mike Crawford, the two outside district attorneys that assisted in the Ayers case." Rickman said. "The purpose of such consultation will be to determine what, if any, legal impact this issue has with respect to the Ayers case," he said. Citing pending litigation and an ongoing investigation of the certification issue, Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said it would be inappropriate for him to comment at this time. Harrison remains on administrative leave, "just until we get it worked out," Bryant said last week. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake