Former Mississippi police officer convicted in 2018 police brutality case

A former Mississippi police officer has been found guilty of aggravated assault in a 2018 police brutality case.

Christopher Wade Robertson, a former Laurel police officer, was charged with aggravated assault in connection with the beating of James Barnett in May of 2018.

Barnett led officers on a high-speed chase from Laurel to Heidelberg. When the chase ended, Barnett then said officers kicked him in the face multiple times after officers told him to get on the ground.

Robertson and another officer, Anthony Bryce Gilbert, were terminated after an investigation by the Laurel Police Department.

Gilbert was found guilty of aggravated assault in a 2022 trial.

Robertson’s first trial in 2023, in Jasper County, was declared a mistrial.

Judge Stanley Sorey sentenced Robertson to seven years in prison, with two years to serve and the remaining five to serve on post-release supervision.