Apr. 20—Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh cleared a Hall County Sheriff's Office deputy of any wrongdoing in the September shooting of a motorcyclist, where the sheriff said the deputy mistook a weapon for a glove.

But the documents released to The Times give little details to reasons why the district attorney and the Sheriff's Office's review panel felt that the deputy followed policy.

The incident began around 9:30 p.m. Sept. 3 when the Sheriff's Office tried to stop Marshall Hooper, 37, of Buford, on McEver Road in Buford.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the shooting, said Hooper's motorcycle crashed after a short chase.

Following the crash, Sheriff Gerald Couch said Hooper tried to leave the scene and made "several furtive actions during the encounter."

While kneeling by the motorcycle, Hooper "appeared to be manipulating something near his waistband" and did not comply with the deputy's commands to show his hands, Couch said.

"At one point, the suspect abruptly turned to face the deputy while rapidly extending his arms," Couch said in his statement. "The suspect appeared to have a black object in his hand as he did so."

Deputy Jeremy Cooksey fired one shot and hit Hooper in the chin. Law enforcement rendered aid until medical personnel were able to transport Hooper to Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

Investigators determined that there were no weapons and that the black object was a motorcycle glove.

In a letter dated Feb. 23 to the GBI, Darragh said he received a 114-page report from the GBI along with hours of audio statements and video of the incident.

The Sheriff's Office also created a 31-page use-of-force review.

Darragh said no criminal charges against Cooksey would be appropriate but doesn't include details in his letter of why.

"The case file of the GBI being complete and detailed, I find it unnecessary to recount the facts in this letter," Darragh wrote.

When asked by The Times for further explanation on why he declined criminal charges, Darragh said he will "stick to the four corners" of the letter, which is 11 sentences and roughly 200 words.

Darragh also noted in his letter that the five members of the use-of-force review board from the Sheriff's Office unanimously found the shooting to be "in policy."

"While the findings of the review board are not dispositive of my consideration, I agree with their findings," Darragh wrote.

The Times sent an open records request to the Sheriff's Office for the use-of-force review and the body camera footage. Both items were denied. The Sheriff's Office cited the code section regarding pending investigations when denying the open records request.

In September, the Sheriff's Office said Hooper was facing felony obstruction of an officer, failure to stop at a stop sign, expired tag, speeding and driving while having a suspended/revoked license.

Sheriff's Office spokeswoman B.J. Williams confirmed Hooper has not been booked in to the Hall County Jail.

The case has not been indicted, so it is unclear who is representing Hooper in the case.