The state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a DeKalb County judge lacked the authority to overturn the convictions of a formerly married couple found guilty of scamming the county’s school system.
In a nine-page decision, the appeals court sided with DeKalb County prosecutors who had argued that Tony Pope and Patricia Reid should not have been granted new trials.
Their judge, Cynthia Becker, had no basis to grant the new trial for Pope because Pope had no request for a new trial pending at the time Becker made her decision, the appeals court said. Because Becker failed to fully consider all the evidence against Reid during the 2013 trial, Becker improperly granted Reid a new trial as well, the court said.
Reid and Pope were convicted of racketeering in November 2013. A DeKalb jury found Reid, who was the DeKalb school system’s chief operating officer, illegally steered millions of dollars in school construction business over several years to Pope’s architectural firm. At the time, Pope was Reid’s husband.
Becker reversed Pope’s and Reid’s convictions in October because she said she didn’t believe former DeKalb school superintendent Crawford Lewis was truthful during their trial. Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of an officer in exchange for probation, a fine and community service. Lewis testified for the prosecution against Reid and Pope as a condition of his plea deal.
At the time, Becker said as the judge she was not bound to honor the plea agreement, but the district attorney said Becker had agreed to the terms.
The school corruption case, along with court proceedings and criminal investigations of other top DeKalb officials, further eroded many residents' confidence in the county's government and school system. On Wednesday, interim DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Lee May hired former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers to conduct a sweeping investigation of corruption in DeKalb.
Reid and Pope were granted bail in December after Becker overturned the verdicts.
Tony Axam, Reid’s attorney, said Wednesday he wants the appeals court to have Becker clarify her prior ruling in order for his client to get a new trial. Becker, though, retired earlier this month.
“Judge Becker said Crawford Lewis did not pass the smell test … No other judge can do what she did,” Axam said, referring to her ability to judge the case.
John Petrey, an attorney for Pope, did not return a telephone call for comment Wednesday afternoon.
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