Embattled Cherokee County School Board member Kelly Marlow will not face suspension from her post as a criminal case against her proceeds.
A three-person panel recommended that Gov. Nathan Deal not remove her from the school board, though Marlow has been indicted on charges of making false statements to Canton police.
As governor, Deal has the authority to remove elected officials who are under indictment. The law calls for him to appoint a three-person panel, which makes a recommendation to him.
In recommending that Marlow not face suspension, the panel of Attorney General Sam Olens, Cobb County School Board member Tim Stultz and Forsyth School Board member Ann Crow noted that the criminal charges against Marlow are not directly related to her service on the Cherokee board.
The panel’s decision closes what could have been a politically uncomfortable chapter for Deal, who must get by a pair of fellow Republicans before he faces a Democratic opponent in next year’s gubernatorial election.
Marlow, who won election by a margin of 24 votes last year, is popular among tea party activists, an important voting bloc that tends to support Republican candidates.
Brian Steel, an attorney representing Marlow, reminded panel members at a hearing Thursday that she is an elected official. “We don’t remove people from their elected positions easily,” Steel told the panel.
Told by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the panel’s decision, Steel said it was “wonderful, wonderful news.”
“I’m very pleased with the decision not to suspend Ms. Marlow,” he added, “and I look forward to having a trial in Cherokee County in the near future in which Ms. Marlow will be vindicated.”
Marlow clashed with Cherokee Superintendent Frank Petruzielo and other members of the board almost from the start of her tenure. She accused Petruzielo of hiding financial information and called in the district’s accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, to investigate.
SACS did conduct a review but said it found no evidence of wrongdoing. Marlow’s fellow board members censured and fined her for violating board ethics policy.
Marlow told Canton police that Petruzielo almost ran her and pair of her associates down with his car after a contentious school board meeting in June.
She was charged with making false statements to police after they used street video to dispute her account.
The prosecutor in her case, Rachelle L. Carnesale, told panel members Thursday that Marlow lied in claiming she was nearly hit by Petruzielo.
“She faces numerous counts of making false statements to law enforcement,” Carnesale said. “We’re talking about a variety of false statements to police.”
Steel, however, had a crime scene analyst show panel members a video, which he said demonstrated that Marlow was, indeed, nearly struck by Petruzielo.
The video showed Marlow and the other two people crossing a street before a a white car presumably driven by Petruzielo passed by. It was not clear how close the car came to Marlow, but the crime scene analyst, relying on light, shadows and mathematical calculations based on the the height and angle of the video camera, argued that any reasonable person could have feared the approaching vehicle was about to hit her.
Petruzielo has strenuously denied that he attempted to run down Marlow and her associates.
He did not specifically address the panel’s ruling Thursday.
“The Superintendent will reserve further comment regarding the false charges made against him by Ms. Marlow until after a court judgment is issued regarding the four felony indictments Ms. Marlow faces for making false statements to police,” district spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby said in response to a request for comment.
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