The Supreme Court of Georgia on Monday vacated a ruling that shielded three white former sheriff’s deputies from felony charges stemming from the death of a mentally ill Black man. 

In a unanimous opinion, Justice Charles Bethel said the trial judge, Senior Superior Court Judge H. Gibbs Flanders Jr., “made findings of material fact that were inconsistent with its legal conclusions regarding the deputies’ encounter” with Eurie Lee Martin. Bethel said Flanders also “conflated principles regarding the reasonable use of force by law enforcement with self-defense and immunity, made unclear findings of material fact to whether any or all of the deputies used force intended or likely to cause death, and did not address facts pertinent to each of the three deputies individually.”