Sep. 6—A participant in an October 2023 Decatur protest over the fatal police shooting of Steve Perkins was acquitted of a disorderly conduct charge Thursday in municipal court after a police officer admitted he was unsure whether she had obstructed traffic.
Kourtney West said she felt a mix of excitement and relief at the conclusion of the case.
“It just felt good to know that justice will always prevail,” West said Friday.
The city had the burden of proving that West obstructed traffic. West was represented by Decatur attorney Carl Cole, who cross-examined two officers. Cole said the judge determined the city had not met its burden of proving West’s guilt.
Key pieces of evidence were challenged during the trial.
“We successfully had one of the dash cams excluded from evidence,” Cole said. “They were able to show body cam and another dash cam, but one of the other dash cams was excluded.”
He added that the defense did not present any evidence.
Cole said the officer who arrested West admitted he never saw her on the road.
“When he made contact with her, she was on the sidewalk,” he said.
West noted that another individual arrested with her that day was found guilty Thursday. Cole emphasized that the verdict does not change how law enforcement handles demonstrations in Decatur.
“If law enforcement sees people that they believe are acting disorderly, they’ll still be arrested and prosecuted,” he said. “Even if you successfully defend yourself, you still have to go through a lengthy court process, which costs a lot of time and money.”
West said she had to attend court five times for the disorderly conduct charge.
She recalled her initial arrest on Oct. 6, 2023, when former Decatur police Lt. Joe Renshaw confronted her as she was holding a sign and marching near Wilson Street Northeast and Sixth Avenue.
“I was quite literally on the sidewalk and holding my sign and I was shouting different things, profanity and whatever, but I feel like we all know that’s in your First Amendment right to say things within limits,” West said. “Renshaw pointed at me and said, ‘Get her,’ and an officer came up, grabbed me by my arm and pulled me off the sidewalk, and then three men arrested me.”
She said it was the first and only time she had ever been arrested, and that none of the charges filed against her were explained to her by the officers.
“I was definitely not expecting to end up in jail that night,” West said. “That was definitely not the plan.”
Renshaw retired in June.
West said despite her own legal issues, she will not stop demonstrating in support of Perkins and bringing awareness to the circumstances surrounding his death.
During the early morning hours of Sept. 29, 2023, Perkins, 39, was shot and killed in his front yard on Ryan Drive Southwest by former Decatur police officer Mac Marquette during a botched attempt to repossess Perkins’ truck. Perkins was allegedly armed. Marquette was charged with Perkins’ murder in January 2024, and his trial is currently scheduled to proceed in November. He pleaded not guilty.
“I had seen the stories circulating on Facebook, and it just hit me in a different way,” West said. “Not only am I a Black woman, but I have a Black brother, I have a Black dad, and I was just like, ‘This could happen to anybody.’ It took a personal toll on me. I still feel like it was outright wrong to this day for Steve Perkins to even have been in the situation he was in.”
— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442.