Indicted Columbus police officers testify at immunity hearing about shooting
A Columbus judge heard testimony Tuesday in the motion for immunity by two Columbus police officers indicted for the non-fatal shooting of a man on Manchester Expressway in February 2024.
Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters heard testimony from Columbus Police Department Officers Xavier Perez and Kenneth Rammage. The officers face charges of aggravated battery and aggravated assault in connection with the shooting of Jermaine Hernandez during a traffic stop on Manchester Expressway on Feb. 7, 2024.
During the traffic stop, Hernandez’s car backfired and caused a noise that sounded like gunfire, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Hernandez was pulled over after officers saw him driving 100 mph in a construction zone, according to the GBI.
The shooting left the car riddled with bullet holes.
Rammage had been with CPD for over eight years at the time of the shooting, while Perez had been employed by the department for less than a year at the time of the shooting, according to records from the officers’ personnel files.
Perez’s testimony
Perez testified he was in his last week of FTO (Field Training Officer) training at the time of the incident, and Rammage was his FTO that day.
Perez testified he and Rammage had just finished another traffic stop when Rammage “clocked” the BMW driven by Hernandez and initiated the traffic stop.
Perez said he ran the tags on the car, which came back all clear. Perez then approached the driver’s side, according to his testimony.
Perez testified he saw Hernandez stick out his hand from the driver’s side window covered by a blanket, at which point he backed up behind Hernandez’s vehicle
Perez testified he could not make out what in particular Hernandez had in his hand and could not rule out whether Hernandez had a firearm in his hand.
After seeing the blanket and establishing distance and cover, Perez said he unholstered his weapon and attempted to give verbal commands but was unable to because he then heard what he perceived to be gunfire and returned fire.
Perez said he perceived the gunfire to be coming from the driver.
When asked whether he acted that day in accordance with his training on use of force, Perez said yes.
Perez testified he fired his weapon that day because he believed his life, Rammage’s life and the lives of other drivers on the highway were in danger.
Upon cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney Meghan Bowden, Perez responded “yes” when asked whether he agreed with Bowden that Hernandez did not fire a weapon at him Feb. 7, 2024.
Rammage’s testimony
Rammage testified after Perez and said he was using LiDAR (light detection and ranging) when he clocked Hernandez’s vehicle at 96 mph.
During the traffic stop, Rammage said he observed Hernandez moving around a lot in the vehicle and leaning over to the passenger side of the vehicle. Rammage testified he found that conduct to be “a little not normal,” but he said it didn’t “raise to a point of heightened alert to me to where I needed to notify anyone or to notify Perez of it.”
After exiting the patrol car, Rammage said he intended to go to the driver’s side of the vehicle behind Perez.
While approaching the vehicle, Rammage said he saw Hernandez lean completely to the right, come back to the center and then make a turning movement to the left, conduct he said was ”not normal.”
Rammage testified when he saw Hernandez make the quick turn motion, he saw Perez start to retreat from the vehicle and begin drawing his firearm.
Rammage then heard what appeared to be several gunshots come from the vehicle, according to his testimony.
“I was in fear that Mr. Hernandez was gonna cause serious bodily injury or death to Officer Perez or myself,” Rammage said.
Rammage said he was present during a round count where he found out he shot 15 times.
Closing arguments
Bowden told the court, “What this inquiry hinges on is reasonableness. I submit to the court that it was not reasonable for these officers to believe that they were being fired upon.”
“They fired 25 rounds into this man’s car because they got spooked because neither one of them were paying attention,” Bowden said. “They fired into a(n) open expressway during rush hour. The fact that nobody else was injured is an act of God and God alone.”
Perez’s lawyer, David Helmick, said there was no malice on the part of the officers. Helmick said the charge Rammage and Perez face of aggravated battery requires malice on the officers’ part.
“The charge of an aggravated assault, making an assault, intentionally towards Mr. Hernandez, there’s no evidence of anything like that because these officers had nothing against him,” Helmick said.
Helmick said the officers “acted solely based on their reasonable fear.”
Helmick also cited a decision in an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals civil case called Ransom v. Grisafe involving a backfire, in which the circuit said the officers were justified and reasonable in firing at a car that had backfired.
Helmick asked that the court grant Perez’s motion for immunity.
Jim Dahlquist, Rammage’s lawyer, said his client is immune under O.C.G.A § 16-3-24.2.
“Ultimately, Cpl. Rammage reasonably believed Hernandez was firing a gun at Officer Perez and himself,” Dahlquist said. “Cpl. Rammage had probable cause to believe an aggravated assault was occurring in his presence and at the time form an opinion that Hernandez was under arrest.”
Dahlquist asked the court to grant Rammage’s motion for immunity based on the law he presented.
Peters didn’t make a decision on either officer’s motion for immunity Tuesday.
Rammage’s background
Rammage, a graduate of Smiths Station High School, served in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining CPD after being medically separated from the military due to hearing loss, according to documents in Rammage’s CPD application.
Rammage was chosen as CPD’s Officer of the Month in March 2022 and received letters of commendation in November 2023 and June 2024.
Rammage received some disciplinary actions against him, such as being suspended for two incidents of being found sleeping in his patrol car, sideswiping a yellow pole in a parking lot in a patrol car and a letter of reprimand in 2020 for not properly handcuffing a suspect.
Perez’s background
Perez graduated from Chattahoochee High School in 2020, according to his CPD application.
A criminal background check conducted by CPD found no arrests for Perez, but he admitted to an unreported arrest during a polygraph test, according to his application file.
Perez said he was arrested at age 15 or 16 after he got into a fight, according to his personnel file.
“He was arrested as a juvenile and his records were sealed,” the file says. “Mr. Perez stated he didn’t report the arrest because his records were sealed.”
Perez scored a B on his psychological exam, which was described as “suitable.” Perez passed the physical qualifications needed to be an officer in the department, but it took him 14 minutes and 26 seconds to run a mile. Perez disclosed in one application document he had been denied military service for being overweight.
Perez received a “needs improvement” rating in the “communication” section of his employee performance evaluation.
Perez met standards for all other sections of his evaluation and received an “excellent” rating in the “dependable” category.