The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday was wrapping up a last-minute push to obtain indictments against a number of people charged with murder, lest judges be forced to grant them bond.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many cases were indicted, as grand jurors were expected to be in session into the early evening. Two weeks ago, DA Fani Willis said there were 224 unindicted murder cases; 51 of those cases had to be indicted by Tuesday when the last of multiple extensions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic lapsed.
After a person is arrested, prosecutors have 90 days to obtain an indictment, a requirement for the case to proceed. If prosecutors can’t meet the deadline, the law requires judges to grant bond. The deadline was extended during the pandemic through a declared state of emergency in the courts.
Even after indictments, the murder suspects could be granted bond if a judge agrees. Those facing murder charges have long been released on bond in a minority of cases in Fulton County, DeKalb County and other jurisdictions around the country, though it’s even more rare elsewhere in Georgia.
Court case backlogs have built up around the state during the pandemic, but Fulton’s is the worst. County staff estimate it will cost $75 million and years of additional court sessions to solve Fulton’s problem.
Willis, who has said she inherited the backlog when she took office in January, recently received $5 million in extra funding from county commissioners to hire new employees to help tackle the caseload.
“I’m drowning, I need help,” Willis told commissioners, calling it dangerous for the suspects to be granted bond. “This ain’t emotional, this is practical.”
Pleas for money from Willis and Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat spurred fiery discussions and an expletive from one commissioner sitting on the dais.
Commissioners from all over Fulton said their constituents were worried about crime.
”We can’t go to the gas station after dark,” said Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman, who represents southern Fulton.
”Crime is the primary issue right now, certainly in my district,” said Commissioner Lee Morris, who represents Buckhead, where the nascent cityhood movement is mostly based on fear of crime.
In recent weeks, prosecutors have been running two grand juries simultaneously — for the first time in county history — to get through the backlog.
DA’s Office spokesman Jeff DiSantis said prosecutors had made decent headway as of Tuesday afternoon, noting the grand juries were expected to stay into the evening to finish their work.
“We think we’re going to have everybody covered,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shortly after lunch.
He said investigators have been “burning the midnight oil” to track down key witnesses and bring them before the grand jury for a formal indictment of charges. It was a long day for those called in for jury duty, he said.
A 2017 investigation by the AJC found that Fulton judges had granted bond to at least 37 murder suspects in the prior 3½ years. Of those, 11 had been arrested while on bond, but most new offenses weren’t violent, according to data from the DA’s office at the time. In some cases, the defendants weren’t able to pay the bond and remained jailed.
Atlanta police often complain about defendants’ releases and have said it contributed to the city’s spike in violent crime since the start of the pandemic.
“It becomes very discouraging when you find yourself faced with a person that you’ve arrested time and time again,” Atlanta police Chief Rodney Bryant said recently.
When considering bond after an indictment, judges must weigh many factors to ensure the defendant’s rights aren’t infringed: Do they have a relevant criminal record? Are they likely to flee or try to influence witnesses? Are they dangerous?
Judges may also consider the strength of the state’s evidence.
“Folks never know the facts of the case. They know what they’ve seen on TV,” DeKalb Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson said in 2017. “I think all the judges on the bench take their duties very seriously. They take the idea of granting a bond very seriously.”
Atlanta defense attorney Lawrence Zimmerman said, like many lawyers, his number of open cases has increased since the start of the pandemic and the ensuing backlog.
“For lawyers like myself who tend to have a smaller caseload, it’s kind of building up more than normal because stuff is not being resolved,” he said.
But regardless of someone’s charges, Zimmerman said those charged with crimes shouldn’t wait in jail for months due to factors that are beyond their control.
“These are people who are accused, so they shouldn’t be languishing in custody and they should be granted bail depending on the situation,” said Zimmerman, who served as president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “Just because they’re charged with murder doesn’t mean they should be denied bail.”
For those without significant criminal histories, Zimmerman believes they should be released while they await their day in court. In more than two decades of practicing law, he said he “can count on both hands” the number of clients facing serious charges who went on to commit additional crimes after being granted bond.
While it can be frustrating and unnerving for some when murder suspects are granted bond, defendants’ rights also must remain a priority, said Thaddeus Johnson, an assistant professor at Georgia State University’s department of criminal justice and criminology.
But Johnson, who is also a former Memphis Police Department lieutenant, said that especially in violent cases, it can be difficult and complex to balance defendants’ rights with the considerations of police and the public.
“I wouldn’t want to make the decision,” Johnson said.
