Clayton proceeds with sex charge against Wall

After a year and half of no action, the Clayton County solicitor general says she is now ready to prosecute two men charged with having sex in an airport bathroom.

The decision was made on the same day The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the lag in the case of Edmund J. Wall, the former chairman of the MARTA board of directors.

“We had finished our investigation. I made the summary to the solicitor general this morning and she decided to go forward,” Clayton County Chief Solicitor Pat Jackson said Thursday.

Wall and Michael Pettry were arrested in March 2007 on charges of public indecency after police said they found them having oral sex in a bathroom at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The men pleaded not guilty the day after the arrest and the case was sent to the solicitor general’s office. Since then, no action has been taken.

On Wednesday, Wall told the newspaper that he didn’t know why there was a delay, but he wanted to move forward with his life.

“Will I get a chance to clear my name? The folks who love me, friends and family, they know Ed Wall and my character,” Wall said Wednesday. “I had hoped after the media frenzy almost two years ago that I was done with all that. Here it is back again.”

On Thursday, Jackson said she sent the case to State Court Judge John C. Carbo to hear in the next few weeks.

Jackson said questions from the media did not influence her decision.

Questions about the status of Wall’s charges arose Tuesday night after the Clayton County Commission voted to hire Wall to handle the county’s investments.

“It’s been a year and a half and hopefully Mr. Wall can get this behind him and we can move forward,” Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell said Thursday.