State Attorney Bill Cervone has postponed prosecuting Kofi Adu-Brempong, the 35-year-old Ghanaian graduate student who was shot in the face by UF police March 2.
As a result of this decision, Adu-Brempong will not be punished for his charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest with violence as long as he continues to undergo counseling, Cervone said in an interview Wednesday.
Adu-Brempong’s case will likely not be officially closed for another three years, he said, though the time could be shortened or lengthened depending on whether Cervone is convinced Adu-Brempong’s progress is satisfactory for dismissal.
Cervone said many factors influenced his decision.
“Everything in it from the facts ... to his particular circumstances ... to what’s best for him and best for the community,” he said. “We will be monitoring his compliance. I assume he’ll successfully comply.”
Peg O’Connor, an attorney with Turner and Hodge, L.L.P., the firm handling Adu-Brempong’s case, said she considered the case closed.
“We think this is a good resolution,” O’Connor said. “We’re pleased with the state attorney’s decision.”
The firm arranged for Adu-Brempong to receive counseling from an off-campus source in Gainesville, O’Connor said, where he will be treated for post traumatic stress, among other things.
Adu-Brempong was known to suffer from delusions prior to the shooting. Officers visited his on-campus apartment on March 1, after a professor in Adu-Brempong’s department alerted police his colleague sent e-mails out to students stating he believed someone was out to hurt him, according to a police report of the incident.
That day, the officers decided Adu-Brempong was not a danger to himself or others, though they returned the next night when a neighbor reported screams from his room.
According to UPD reports, Adu-Brempong approached the officers with a pipe when they entered his apartment, and shooting him was a defensive measure.
Cervone found the officers not guilty of misconduct in the incident.
