Here’s what attorneys are saying about Fani Willis’ use of RICO
Critics say Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willlis’ reliance on Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act may have also weighed down her two biggest cases — the prosecutions of President Donald Trump and Atlanta rapper Young Thug.
Here’s what some Atlanta defense attorneys who have handled RICO cases told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Doug Weinstein
Defense attorney Doug Weinstein, whose client was the only defendant exonerated in the “Young Slime Life” — or YSL — case involving Young Thug, said Willis’ decision to charge so many people in the election interference case against Trump and his allies backfired when an attorney for one of the defendants exposed the DA’s relationship with Nathan Wade.
“When you bring these sprawling RICO cases against so many defendants, you’re also enlisting a giant team of defense attorneys and their people,” he said.
Kristen Novay
Over the past three years, defense attorney Kristen Novay has represented three clients charged in RICO cases brought by Willis’ office.
She helped represent Atlanta rapper Gunna in the sprawling “Young Slime Life” case, attorney Ray Smith in the Trump election interference case and another man charged in a gang case brought by the DA’s office.
But Novay said not everything needs to be a RICO case, because “not all crime is organized crime.”
“To me, a RICO case done right is a very good prosecutorial tool. It can give you a lot of advantages,” Novay said. “But if it’s not done right, it can overcomplicate a very simple case.”
Cases with large numbers of co-defendants tend to strain the court system, Novay said. There are also instances in which lower-level players “on the outskirts” of an alleged enterprise are charged and held without bond for months in the hope they plead guilty or agree to testify against others.
“It feels coercive,” Novay said.
J. Tom Morgan
Even some former prosecutors have criticized the way Willis brings RICO charges, saying the cases would likely be more effective if she charged far fewer people.
“I’m not aware of any prosecutor using it as much or with as many defendants,” said former DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan.
The idea behind RICO is to “go after the top guns,” and to offer everyone else immunity in exchange for their testimony, Morgan said.
“As you saw in the Young Thug case, the criminal justice system can’t handle a case like that,” he said. “It collapsed under its own weight.”
Max Schardt
Defense attorney Max Schardt, whose client was acquitted of all but one charge in the YSL trial, said the DA’s office could have kept things simpler.
“You can just charge people for the crimes they’re accused of if you have the evidence,” he said.
In the YSL case, the majority of defendants were held without bond until they pleaded guilty — often in exchange for probation. Schardt said there likely would have been far fewer guilty pleas in the YSL case had they been allowed to post bond instead of sitting for months inside of Fulton County’s notoriously dangerous jail.
Suri Chadha Jimenez
Attorney Suri Chadha Jimenez, another defense attorney involved in the YSL case, called the prosecution a waste of time and money.
“They didn’t take an honest look at their case. When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what you allege. It matters what you can prove,” Chadha Jimenez told the AJC. “And if you don’t have the evidence it’s just a waste of resources.”
Amanda Clark Palmer
Attorney Amanda Clark Palmer, who was not involved in the YSL case, described it as “an embarrassment” to the Georgia justice system.
“It was so unbelievable and so circus-like and so out of control,” she said at the time.
Keith Adams
Keith Adams, who represented Young Thug in last year’s YSL trial, said the RICO statute is overused by Willis’ office.
“I think the DA’s office has had a tendency to utilize it because it makes it easier for them to attempt to convict someone when they don’t have the evidence otherwise, and I think that’s a misuse,” said Adams, who also squared off against Willis more than a decade ago in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial.
“They wasted time, they wasted money, they wasted their own credibility,” he said.
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