Criminal Justice

Fulton 19 recap: Trump sticks with Fulton venue, first defendant accepts a plea agreement, and more

BY: - September 30, 2023

Former Republican President Donald Trump’s decision to no longer press for his Fulton County election interference case to be moved to federal court signals a change of course in the conspiracy case against Trump and his 18 co-defendants. Trump’s attorney Steven Sadow notified Fulton County Superior Court about the ex–president’s decision on Thursday. Several weeks […]

Judge clears Oct. 1 start for new prosecutors oversight panel

BY: - September 29, 2023

A judge ruled Friday that a new prosecutors disciplinary council can begin investigating complaints on Sunday. Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission remains intact after Fulton County Judge Paige Reese Whitaker rejected four district attorneys seeking a temporary injunction on the first ever oversight panel for county prosecutors.  The plaintiffs – Democratic DeKalb County District Attorney […]

First defendant in Fulton County election interference case accepts plea agreement

BY: - September 29, 2023

Scott Hall, one of 19 defendants in the Fulton County election interference case against former president Donald Trump and his allies, pleaded guilty Friday afternoon to five misdemeanor charges. Hall, a bail bondsman accused of entering the Coffee County elections office and illegally accessing voting equipment, is the first of the defendants to forge an […]

Fulton 19 recap: 900 local residents to receive jury summons in election interference trial

BY: - September 22, 2023

The Fulton County 2020 presidential election interference trial is scheduled to begin next month, which means attorneys will have to parse through hundreds of potential jurors before opening statements can be made. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has ordered that 900 residents be called as prospective jurors for the Oct. 23 trial of […]

Biden administration to create new gun violence prevention office

BY: - September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House Thursday announced the formation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention that will help states and local governments as they implement a gun safety legislative package President Joe Biden signed into law last year. Lacking additional action in Congress to curb gun violence, “the Office of Gun Violence Prevention along […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Trump, ‘Cop City’ RICO cases show danger of such laws

BY: - September 21, 2023

Georgia’s wide-ranging version of an anti-racketeering act, or RICO, puts a powerful weapon in the hands of prosecutors. And like any powerful weapon, it can be used for good, or for ill. The best safeguards against its abuse must be judges and juries, and both will come into play in the two major RICO-based prosecutions […]

Fulton DA rejects claims of official role by Trump ‘fake electors’ in 2020 election case

BY: - September 20, 2023

Fulton County prosecutors describe a trio of Georgians who served on a false slate of Republican electors in the 2020 presidential election as being fantastical in their attempt to argue their felony election interference racketeering case should be moved to federal court. On Tuesday, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office said the so-called fake electors […]

Former U.S. Capitol Police chief blames intelligence failures, not Trump, for Jan. 6 attack

BY: - September 20, 2023

The FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security failed to share intelligence with the U.S. Capitol Police ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, leaving the Capitol Police under-prepared for that day’s violence, the former chief of the Capitol Police told a U.S. House panel chaired by Cassville, Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk on Tuesday. But […]

Lawyer says ex-DOJ official acted within scope of duties

BY: - September 19, 2023

On Monday, the attorney representing Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump Justice Department official, accused the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office of opening a Pandora’s Box by prosecuting Clark for disagreeing with DOJ colleagues over the secureness of the 2020 presidential election results. Harry MacDougald, Clark’s attorney, challenged prosecutors charging him in state court for drafting […]

COMMENTARY

State leaders should pass gun safety laws to save Georgians’ lives

BY: - September 17, 2023

In the twenty years that I spent as a teacher and administrator in middle schools and high schools in Athens and Northeast Georgia before my time as Mayor of Athens-Clarke County, many students and families I knew had encounters with gun violence: a student shot in the knee during horseplay, one who shot a girlfriend […]

Five things for Fulton 19: First trials start October for 2020 election interference

BY: - September 17, 2023

More than a month’s worth of lawyering has advanced the Fulton County 2020 election interference case since Aug. 14, the day when ex-President Donald Trump, members of his inner circle, and several Georgia residents were charged with racketeering conspiracy for allegedly trying to sabotage the 2020 election. On Friday afternoon, state Sen. Shawn Still avoided […]

Judge rules Trump’s 2020 Georgia racketeering case and 16 others severed from October trial

BY: - September 14, 2023

A Fulton County judge ruled Thursday that 17 defendants, including former President Donald Trump, will be tried separately from co-defendants Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who are scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 23 for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee noted in […]