Sidney Dorsey

Sidney Dorsey (born February 23, 1940, in Atlanta, Georgia) served as sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia from 1996 to 2000. Dorsey was the first African-American to serve as sheriff of DeKalb County, and was married to Atlanta city councilwoman Sherry Dorsey (1954–2006). When he was defeated in a 2000 runoff by challenger Derwin Brown, he arranged the murder of Brown.

On July 10, 2002, Dorsey was convicted of ordering Brown's assassination in order to obstruct Brown's expected probe into corruption occurring in the DeKalb County sheriff's office during Dorsey's term. Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker sentenced Dorsey to life on the murder conviction, an additional 23 years on racketeering and violation of oath of office convictions, and concurrent sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years on his several convictions of theft by taking of the oath of office of an elected official. Dorsey is currently held in Georgia State Prison.

In 2007, it was reported that Dorsey allegedly confessed to his part in the ordering of the hit on Brown out of bitterness of having been defeated by him in the local County Sheriff's election. However, he claimed that he had attempted to abort the assassination plot prior to Brown's murder, but was unsuccessful.

Prior to his tenure as sheriff, Dorsey also served on the task force that looked into reopening the case of convicted murderer Wayne Williams. Dorsey appeared as one of many, including some of the victims' relatives, who voiced public doubt of Williams's guilt of the murders. Dorsey is quoted as stating: "Most people who are aware of the child murders believe as I do that Wayne Williams did not commit these crimes". Williams was identified as the key suspect in the Atlanta Child Murders that occurred between 1979 and 1981. In January 1982, he was found guilty of the murder of two adult men.Dorsey, as an Atlanta homicide detective, supervised the first search of Williams' home in 1981.