FULTON COUNTY, GA – Back in August of 2020, then-Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard was voted out of his position and District Attorney Fani T. Willis was voted in.
Atlanta DA requests an alternative prosecutor for two high-profile cases, including the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks https://t.co/qJKxaO3QqD pic.twitter.com/mnBQ4kgxo6
— Dhulgambari Murtaza (@Sulubawa) January 29, 2021
In late January of 2021, the new District Attorney petitioned the state’s attorney general in an effort to seek alternative prosecutors for two high-profile cases that cropped up in 2020, citing her predecessor’s mishandling of the cases.
One of the cases in question pertains to the prosecution of what’s been coined as the “Atlanta 6”, the officers charged in the incident that involved two college students getting tased and pulled out of their cars in the midst of a George Floyd protest ongoing in Atlanta over the summer of 2020.
Is America’s new marching orders to just fire every cop without due process? #Atlantahttps://t.co/jfXtaTQGsL
— LawEnforcementToday (@LawEnforceToday) June 12, 2020
And then of course, the other high-profile case being that of the charging of former Atlanta Police officer Garrett Rolfe, who has been charged with felony murder in the death of Rayshard Brooks which transpired in June of 2020.
#Breaking
They are going to charge the officer with felony murder – here’s the latest. #RayshardBrookshttps://t.co/7GGXJI48D3— LawEnforcementToday (@LawEnforceToday) June 17, 2020
In DA Willis’ is letter to State Attorney General Christopher Carr, the newly elected DA pointed to a television ad campaign that her predecessor used in an effort to achieve reelection.
Apparently, the campaign advertisement pieced together by former DA Paul Howard included footage from the Rayshard Brooks case:
“I believe his conduct, including using video evidence in campaign television advertisements, may have violated Georgia Bar Rule 3.8(g).”
Another aspect mentioned within the letter by DA Willis noted that Howard had issued grand jury subpoenas despite there being no such panel at the time due to the pandemic. Based upon the aforementioned, DA Willis believes these cases should be transferred out of her office:
“I believe both matters create sufficient question of the appropriateness of this office continuing to handle the investigation and possible prosecution of these cases that the public interest is served by disqualifying this office and referring the matter to specially appointed prosecutor.”
Now it’s unclear if it was referenced in the letter sent to the state attorney general’s office, but former Fulton County DA Howard engaged in numerous things that could bring into question whether he was handling these high-profile cases appropriately.
He wants the decision taken out of the hands of the Grand Jury and given to politicians like him. Keep in mind that he is facing investigations for ethics and criminal violations. What do you think?https://t.co/8IW1LlijVe#cops #police #truecrime #talkradio #podcasts
— L.E.T. Radio Show Podcast (@LETRadioShowPo1) June 19, 2020
Back on June 17th in 2020, at the same press conference where former DA Howard announced felony charges against former officer Garrett Rolfe, he also stated that he believes “prosecutors should be allowed to indict cases directly without a grand jury when they involve police shootings.”
If that weren’t questionable enough, also in June of 2020, former DA Howard attended the funeral of Rayshard Brooks – despite his office being tasked with prosecuting the man accused of murdering him.
And when Garrett Rolfe managed to make bail with the help of people donating to a legal fund for the accused, former DA Howard attempted to have the identities outed of those who donated to Garrett Rolfe’s legal fund.
They’re not just looking to destroy the officer who shot Rayshard Brooks in self-defense. They’re looking to destroy everyone around him now as well.https://t.co/P0a3ltvklz
— LawEnforcementToday (@LawEnforceToday) August 14, 2020
Now while none of this occurred under the watch of the new District Attorney in Fulton County, these actions still took place while these cases were being handled by the Fulton County DA’s office.
Overall, it was a rather ethical request to be made by DA Willis.
State Attorney General Carr’s Office did confirm that they had received the request from the newly elected DA on January 28th, but stated that there’s some additional information needed to grant said request according to a spokesperson for the office:
“We are awaiting additional information necessary to initiate the process for appointing a substitute prosecutor.”
Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis, who is representing one of the victims from the “Atlanta 6” case is reportedly unhappy that the case is being reassigned – namely due to this effort lengthening the process for the case to work its way through the courts:
“They have been patient with the process and to now have to wait even longer is incredibly disheartening and frustrating. This is essentially a restart of a case that we wanted ready for trial when the courts reopen.”
Based upon the statement delivered from the state attorney general’s office on the matter, it sounds as though that a new prosecutor will be appointed for these cases.
In other matters related to Atlanta, it seems that there’s been an uptick in carjackings in 2021 – and police officials are asking the public to take some common sense measures to help avoid them from becoming the next victim.
We at Law Enforcement Today recently reported on said development in Atlanta. Here’s that previous report.
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ATLANTA, GA – Theft-related crimes typically fall into one of two categories, one of intent and one of opportunity.
And officials with the Atlanta Police Department are trying to help create awareness to certain practices that may be enabling an increase in auto theft – such as vehicle owners leaving their cars running or having spare keys inside of them.
Police said in the last week of December, 80 percent of all stolen cars were either left running or left with the car keys inside. https://t.co/EZSA37OpFA
— Greg Todd (@GregTodd_) January 26, 2021
According to police records, the final week of December 2020 saw that 80% of all stolen vehicles were taken while the vehicles were left running or had spare keys inside of the vehicle.
As for the onset of 2021, police officials say there’s already been a 40% increase in car thefts this year.
And with regard to car thefts that have transpired thus far in 2021, police say 67% of said stolen vehicles were, once again, instances where the car was left running or there were keys inside of the vehicle.
With the aforementioned practices leaving room for criminals to engage in a crime of opportunity, APD Deputy Chief Timothy Peek is trying to help educate the public on how best to avoid increasing the likelihood of their vehicles being stolen:
“I just want our citizens to search those vehicles and get those extra keys out of those cars. And we don’t want you to, no matter how quick you think you can run inside of a location and run back out, it only takes a split second for a person to get in that vehicle and drive off.”
These sorts of cautions coming from the APD have been ongoing for several months now, as similar sentiments were expressed back in November of 2020.
In a 28-day period that ended on November 14th of 2020, there were a total of 337 cars stolen within the city of Atlanta.
As car thefts surge, Atlanta police urge driver vigilance https://t.co/Ex3CP3b1rt
— AJC (@ajc) November 25, 2020
Towards the end of November, APD Chief Michael O’Connor said that essentially car owners are somewhat giftwrapping these vehicles left either running or with keys inside of them:
“We’re seeing this pattern over and over. I believe roughly 70 percent of vehicles stolen this year have been stolen with the key fob inside.”
One of the more recent car theft incidents in Atlanta showed that not even celebrities are immune to having their vehicle stolen when left unattended.
Atlanta-based actor and rapper Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges had his vehicle stolen on January 25th when he went to run up to an ATM. At approximately 4:40 p.m. on January 25th, Bridges had flag down police noting that someone had sped away in his Mercedes-Benz while he was at the ATM.
Rapper Ludacris has Mercedes-Benz stolen in Atlanta https://t.co/8XQtiJjyvi
— 11Alive News (@11AliveNews) January 26, 2021
Police were able to eventually locate Bridges’ vehicle, finding it abandoned in a parking deck located at 1270 Spring St in Midtown. The vehicle at the time was unoccupied and police were able to get the Mercedes-Benz back to Bridges slightly before 10:00 p.m. that evening.
Reportedly no arrests have been made in the case, and Bridges was said to have bee unable to identify the suspect before they sped off in his vehicle.
But the case once again serves as an example to not leave one’s car running – even if one is planning to just quickly use an ATM.
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