Grand jury declines to indict Athens teacher accused of placing student in chokehold

By Joe Johnson

A Clarke County Superior Court grand jury recently declined to indict an Athens teacher who police arrested last year for allegedly choking a student. at W.R. Coile Middle School.

Brockton Tatum, 30, was arrested by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department on an aggravated assault charge for the Nov, 30 incident at the school in which he allegedly placed a 13-year-old male student in a chokehold when breaking up a classroom fight.

The arrest warrant affidavit states that the teacher placed his arm around the boy’s neck for approximately seven seconds, resulting in strangulation that impeded his breathing and the circulation of blood.

Prosecutors presented the case to the grand jury on March 19, but jurors declined to charge Tatum with a felony offense.

“A warrant should have never been issued and my client should have never been arrested,” said defense attorney Billy Olson. “My client was simply trying to prevent violence from occurring in his classroom which is allowed under the law.”

The attorney said that the grand jury’s decision to not indict “was the only result that would speak justice.”