On January 12, 2005, 32-year-old Kelsey Dumas got into a vehicle parked outside of a car dealership in the 2100 block of South Cobb Parkway in Marietta, Georgia. In the driver’s seat was 30-year-old Basil Hibbert, who Dumas had never met before.
The purpose of the meeting was to enlist Dumas to sell drugs for Hibbert. Hibbert explained that he would provide drugs to Dumas to sell, but he would require payment for the drugs upfront.
Dumas said he only had $66 and could not pay for the drugs. At that point, Hibbert pulled a gun out of the console and pointed it at Dumas.
In response, Dumas grabbed another gun from the console. Shots were fired. Hibbert was shot once. Dumas was shot five times: three times in the abdomen, once in the right arm and once in the back.
When police arrived, they found Dumas bleeding on the sidewalk. An envelope containing 14 ounces of cocaine was found under Hibbert’s truck. Dumas contended that he shot Hibbert in self-defense after Hibbert pointed a gun at him. Hibbert claimed Dumas attacked him and claimed no knowledge of the cocaine.
Dumas was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his wounds for the next three and a half months. On June 23, 2006, he was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, trafficking cocaine, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm by a felon, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Meanwhile, Hibbert disappeared.
In December 2006, Dumas went to trial in Cobb County Superior Court. Hibbert was not called as a witness. The prosecution’s case relied on the testimony of a police officer who recounted what Hibbert had told him about the confrontation. Dumas's defense attorney did not object to the presentation of hearsay testimony and because Hibbert did not testify, the defense was unable to cross-examine him about his version of the shooting.
On December 8, 2006, the jury convicted Dumas of trafficking cocaine, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In March 2009, the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld his conviction and sentence.
In June 2013, Hibbert brought a written statement to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, saying that he had been the aggressor and that Dumas had acted in self-defense.
In the statement, Hibbert said he had brought more drugs to the meeting than he had previously advised Dumas he was bringing. “While we were discussing the transaction…I pulled out a gun I had brought and pointed at Dumas,” Hibbert said. “I had brought multiple guns, as well as a pair of handcuffs, to my meeting with Dumas out of concern for my safety during the transaction.”
“However, before I pulled out and pointed the gun at Dumas, he had done nothing to provoke me or make me feel threatened in any way,” Hibbert said. “After I pointed my gun at Dumas, he grabbed another gun that I had in the vehicle to defend himself, causing me to shoot at him multiple times.”
Hibbert said, “Although I gave a statement to the police regarding the incident, I told numerous lies to them, including that I was defending myself from Dumas when in fact, I had drawn my gun first and it was Dumas who was defending himself from me.”
However, the prosecution apparently took no action. Hibbert said he sent the information to Dumas’s attorney at the time. That attorney did not act on the statement, either.
In 2019, Hibbert was indicted by a federal grand jury in Iowa on charges of selling methamphetamine. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In 2023, Dumas hired Paul Howard Jr. as his attorney. Howard had previously served as the elected District Attorney in Fulton County. During his tenure, Howard established a Conviction Integrity Unit there.
In February 2024, after investigating Dumas’s case, Howard met with Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady Jr. and presented a written request for Dumas’s exoneration. Broady promised to investigate the case.
On December 19, 2024, Broady signed an affidavit agreeing to vacate Dumas’s convictions. In the affidavit, Broady said that sometime after Hibbert first gave his written statement to the District Attorney’s office, he gave a notarized affidavit to a prosecutor. Broady said, “I have not been able to locate any actions or any evidence of any actions taken by my office to investigate Mr. Hibbert’s confession prior to my involvement.”
“Based on our investigation of the confession first made by Mr. Hibbert in 2013, it is newly discovered, credible, and material evidence creating a reasonable likelihood that [Dumas] did not commit the offense for which he was convicted,” Broady said in the affidavit.
On December 25, 2024, Howard filed an Extraordinary Consent Motion for a New trial based on Broady’s affidavit.
On January 15, 2025, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill granted the motion and vacated Dumas’s convictions. On April 8, 2025, the prosecution dismissed the case. Dumas was released more than 18 years after he was convicted.
In February 2026, Howard filed a claim on Dumas’s behalf seeking $1.5 million in compensation from the state of Georgia. By that time, Dumas had established his own trucking business.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 04-30-2026
Last Update Date: 05-09-2026
