A Georgia state trooper charged in the murder of a man during a forced traffic stop in August was granted bond Monday after a move to reconsider an earlier bond denial.

Jacob Thompson is charged with shooting Julian Lewis, 60, on Stoney Pond Road in Screven County Aug. 7. He was denied bond in a September hearing, but after his attorneys filed a motion to reconsider, seven witnesses testified before Screven County Chief Superior Court Judge Gates Peed on Nov. 23. Four of those witnesses are active-duty law enforcement officers, according to a copy of Peed’s order, which was provided to the Statesboro Herald by the Screven County Clerk of Courts Office on Monday.

Peed signed the order Monday, granting Thompson release on a $100,000 cash or property bond, according to the document. Thompson was freed from the Screven County Jail later Monday afternoon.

Witnesses testified that Thompson “poses no significant risk” of fleeing or causing harm to any person or the community and no danger of intimidating witnesses, of committing a felony or “otherwise obstructing the administration of justice.”

According to the bond order, there also was testimony during the hearing that there were “no concerns of civil unrest” should bond be granted.

During a press conference Monday, held via Zoom, Atlanta area civil rights attorney Mawuli Davis, representing the Lewis family, commented on the fact that protests held regarding Lewis’ death at the hands of Thompson have been peaceful.

It was also clear during the bond reconsideration hearing, according to the order, that Thompson will be employed upon release. The type of employment was not made clear.

Conditions for Thompson’s bond include that he have no contact with the victim’s family or witnesses and will not solicit anyone else to do so in his interest.

Also, Thompson cannot leave the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Effingham, Bulloch, Jenkins and Screven counties. He must remain employed, have no weapons, use no alcohol and break no laws.

Lewis’ death

Thompson’s accounts of the shooting following Lewis’ death were not consistent with evidence found during an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which was revealed during the original bond hearing in September.

According to reports, Lewis refused to stop when Thompson tried to pull him over for a tail light offense. After a brief pursuit at moderate speeds, Thompson used his patrol car in a PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver to force Lewis’ car off the road.

In reports, Thompson stated he fired a single shot at Lewis, believing the driver was trying to steer his car toward him. However, GBI agent Dustin Peak testified that Lewis’ car was disabled by the PIT maneuver and that Thompson fired his gun at Lewis one second after exiting his patrol car, striking Lewis, who was seated in his car with both hands on the wheel, in the forehead.

Following the shooting, Thompson was charged with felony murder and fired from the state patrol. In the days after his arrest, several protests took place in Sylvania and Statesboro, including a caravan from Atlanta to Sylvania. The protests were all peaceful.

Last week, Lewis’ family announced they would pursue the state in a wrongful death suit for what civil rights attorney Francys Johnson said is more than $12 million.

Johnson and co-counsel Davis both said during Monday’s press conference that Thompson’s release on bond will have no effect on the trial.

“What happened today deters no one,” Davis said, calling Thompson’s actions “inexplicable.”

Johnson praised Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Daphne Totten and GBI investigators for swift action in bringing charges and attributed “citizen outcry” against police-involved shootings as the catalyst for the pace. But Thompson’s release on bond “changes nothing about the case. We will move forward with prosecution.”

After the press conference, Johnson told the Statesboro Herald that “a lot of things went right (with the way the case is being handled) because of the players involved. Folks worked … responsibly and got charges filed.”

In many instances of police-involved shootings, such is not the case, he said.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.