Atlanta defense lawyer Anastasios Manettas, arrested about 10 a.m. Thursday at the Fulton County courthouse, was released later that day on a $5,000 bond. He was taken into custody about 10 a.m. as he went through a secondary security checkpoint outside a first-floor courtroom with some of his prescription medication, his colleagues said.
He was initially charged with simple battery on a law enforcement officer because his cellphone brushed a deputy as he passed it to a fellow attorney while being detained, his lawyer, Brian Tevis, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That charge was later dropped based on eyewitness accounts, he said.
Manettas, 32 faces five charges stemming from the incident, including possession of pills not in their original container, obstruction, disrupting court proceedings, possession of dangerous drugs and having a Schedule II controlled substance. The controlled substance charge is a felony; the other four counts are misdemeanors.
Manettas, who represents Miles Farley in the sweeping Young Slime Life gang case, was held at the courthouse for most of the day before being brought to the Fulton County jail for processing. He was released Thursday night after nearly nine hours in custody. Farley has no criminal record, but is accused of murder and other charges in the sweeping gang indictment. He was granted bond Friday afternoon.
Following Manettas’ arrest, Chief Judge Ural Glanville announced that Farley’s case would be severed from the gang and racketeering trial, bringing the number of defendants set to stand trial to 13.
Manettas’ attorney called the arrest an outrageous overreach by the sheriff’s office.
“It’s just crazy,” Tevis said. “It was crazy enough (Wednesday) when a defendant got arrested in the middle of proceedings. Now they’re arresting lawyers.”
Defendant Rodalius Ryan was abruptly pulled out of court after deputies suspected he had marijuana. Two bags of weed were found sewn into his boxer shorts, Sheriff Patrick Labat said.
Tevis said there is nothing illegal about bringing prescribed medication into the courthouse and said deputies should have done a little research or run it up the chain of command before arresting an officer of the court on the spot.
“It’s like they decided to shoot first and ask questions later,” he said. “This is already going to be a long, complicated trial and it seems like day after day, there’s something else that has nothing to do with the trial injecting more complications, more delays.”
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