Arguments in Monday morning’s hearings in the political corruption case of suspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis focused mostly on seizing the DA’s computer in the case – and Ellis’ wardrobe.
The hearing grew more explosive in the afternoon, with prosecutors and Ellis’ defense team trading jabs and accusations of wrongdoing for hours.
Ellis’ lawyers have asked Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson to dismiss the 14 felony charges that accuse him of shaking down county vendors for campaign cash and punishing those who did not give. Ellis has denied wrongdoing.
In January hearings, the former chief assistant DeKalb district attorney testified that DA Robert James showed him less than a minute of a secretly recorded video of Ellis last year.
Attorneys said Monday that Geary noticed Ellis was in a suit in the video, while the sole video turned over in the case shows Ellis in a golf shift.
That discrepancy, and conflicting testimony between Geary and James, have convinced defense attorneys that more videos were recorded. They want the court to order the DA’s office to turn over his computer to the GBI for review.
“If there are no images, then there is no discovery issue. If there are, then we have some serious ramifications in this courtroom,” defense attorney Dwight Thomas said.
Prosecutors, who are also challenging a motion to disqualify the DA’s office from the case, said they had turned over all recordings – the one video and several hundred hours of audio recordings – taken secretly by Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton, who cooperated in the probe.
The simple explanation for the possible discrepancy: Ellis was recorded wearing a suit to testify before a special grand jury investigating allegations of corruption in DeKalb , assistant district attorney Cynthia Hill said.
“There is only one video and it was turned over six months ago,” Hill said. “Just repeating that claim (of more videos) over and over and over again doesn’t make it true.”
Hearings continue Tuesday, with witnesses expected to bolster defense arguments to keep some covert recordings out of evidence. Johnson said she may issue a ruling as early as Tuesday afternoon on some of Monday’s arguments.
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