Judge: Atlanta Eagle defendants ‘not guilty'

By Ty Tagami and Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An Atlanta judge found three defendants in the Atlanta Eagle gay bar case not guilty Thursday, and the prosecutor agreed to dismiss the charges against the other five defendants.

Municipal Judge Crystal Gaines said city police failed to produce evidence proving that men danced naked without permits or that the bar operators were running an unlicensed adult establishment.

The decision comes as defendants and others involved with the Ponce de Leon Avenue bar are countering with a lawsuit in federal court against the city and Atlanta police officers.

"We always thought from the beginning that we were charged for no reason," bar co-owner Richard Ramey, who was not a defendant, said after the decision. "They had no right to be there," he said of the police.

The case stems from a raid on Sept. 10, when a swarm of officers detained and searched about five dozen Eagle customers, making some lie handcuffed and face down on the club's floor. Some customers said they were not allowed to move for an hour and that they endured anti-gay slurs from the officers.

When Thursday's court hearing began, eight people -- dancers, bar employees and another bar co-owner -- stood as defendants.

According to police records, police raided the club because of reports of drug activity and because undercover officers reported seeing men having sex at the club while customers looked on. But the raid produced no charges of drug use or illicit sex.

The employees were instead charged with business license violations, while the dancers were accused of providing adult entertainment without a license. Each violation carries a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The lead investigator, Det. Bennie E. Bridges, and one other officer testified for the prosecution.

Bridges said that he heard no slurs and that he saw one of the defendants dancing atop the bar "in bikini underwear."

"He was pulling down the front of his underwear and exposing himself," Bridges said. "Men would reach up and put money into the waistband."

But Bridges could not identify all eight defendants, prompting defense attorney Alan Begner to push for dismissals.

One by one, senior assistant solicitor Larry Gardner agreed to the dismissals, until only three defendants remained: co-owner Robert Kelley and dancers Leandro Apud and Tadareius Johnson.

Gardner said dancers clad only in underwear had exposed their genitals and taken tips "the same way money would be accepted in any other nude bar."

The two sides argued over whether the Eagle was an adult entertainment business. Gardner said it was and that it was operating without a permit. Begner said it wasn't and that his clients should not have been charged under that ordinance.

Begner produced eight witnesses who contradicted the police. Three dancers denied exposing themselves, and the five other defense witnesses, a mix of bar employees and patrons, said they saw no nude dancing at the bar that night.

Judge Gaines said the city had to overcome "all these witnesses" and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that nude dancing happened.

"I don't believe that the city has met that burden," she said.

The case caused a stir in Atlanta and became a factor in the recent mayoral election. The federal court case is sure to stir up more sentiments.

The Atlanta City Council, meanwhile, has agreed to subpoena 18 officers to answer questions about the raid from the Citizen Review Board. So far, only one officer has complied.