Former DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis will be reimbursed $755,000 for attorney costs incurred during a five-year legal odyssey that saw him endure a criminal investigation, two trials, a conviction and eight months in prison before charges were dropped.
Ellis' conviction was overturned in November, and now taxpayers are on the hook for his legal fees as well as $223,000 in back pay. Combined, that's nearly $1 million in payouts to Ellis.
The DeKalb Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 on Tuesday to make the payment, authorized under state law when a government official is found not guilty or charges are dismissed.
The compensation covers the amount paid to his legal defense team through both jury trials and a successful appeal. After the Georgia Supreme Court threw out the jury's guilty verdicts, District Attorney Sherry Boston dropped the charges of attempted extortion and perjury in February.
"DeKalb made the right decision. It's the fair decision to make," said Craig Gillen, who was Ellis' lead attorney. "Even though he has been repaid the attorney fees, he simply cannot be repaid in any way for the time that he spent away from his wife and his children as a result of this case. That precious time cannot be given back."
Prosecutors accused Ellis, who was twice elected as DeKalb’s chief executive, of strong-arming county contractors into giving him campaign contributions. After special grand jury investigation in 2012, Ellis was indicted and suspended from office in July 2013.
When Ellis' case first went to trial, a jury couldn't reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial in October 2014. A second jury found him guilty of four felonies in July 2015.
But the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in November 2016 that Ellis didn’t receive a fair trial because he wasn’t allowed to present evidence that could have cleared him.
Kathie Gannon, the DeKalb Commission’s presiding officer, said repaying Ellis is appropriate.
“Of course, it’s a lot of money,” she said. “When a person in their capacity as an elected official is found not guilty of a crime, they can be reimbursed for their defense.”
Ellis didn’t return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.
The payment will compensate Ellis for his actual legal expenses, which were submitted to the county government. Ellis’ legal team was made up of high-profile defense attorneys including Gillen, Dwight Thomas, J. Tom Morgan, John Petrey and others.
Boston, elected last year, cited the case's cost to the county when she announced in February she wouldn't pursue a third trial against Ellis.
“Based on our knowledge of the investigative resources employed, the man-hours, and the time associated with multiple prosecutions, our best educated estimate is hundreds of thousands of dollars, cumulatively,” Boston said in a written statement.
The team of prosecutors were government employees who don’t bill by the hour, as private attorneys do, said former District Attorney Robert James, who brought the case against Ellis.
“Pursuing justice is always worth it. Standing up in defense of victims is always worth it, and that’s really what the case was all about,” James said. “I don’t think it was wasted time. Mr. Ellis is no longer with the county, and we have a new CEO. The county has an opportunity to start fresh and put that ugly time period behind us.”
Under the payout agreement approved by the DeKalb Commission, Ellis must reimburse more than $100,000 to donors who contributed to his legal defense fund. If Ellis can’t find donors or fails to pay them back, the county will recover that money.
DeKalb Commissioner Nancy Jester said she voted against the arrangement because she doesn’t know who the donors are and whether paying them could create conflicts of interest.
“It’s clear that the county has the ability, given the circumstances now of CEO Ellis’ legal status, to go ahead and reimburse him for his legal expenses,” Jester said. “But I needed more clarity on who that would be, just so we don’t have something strange going on.”
Commissioner Jeff Rader, who also voted against the payout, cited the same reasons for his opposition.
Georgia law for legal cost reimbursement
“The governing authority of a municipality, county, or other public body shall be authorized to reimburse any person charged with a criminal offense involving theft, embezzlement, or other like crime … for all or a part of the cost of the defense of such person if such person is found not guilty of such crime or if the charges against such person are dismissed or nolle prossed.”
Source: O.C.G.A. 45-9-21(c)
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