Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled to lay out different sides of a story Tuesday as opening arguments get underway in the corruption trial of suspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis.
Did he strong-arm vendors for political contributions, or is he a victim of an overzealous district attorney?
This is the second time the charismatic politico has gone on trial on charges that he ordered work withheld from vendors who wouldn’t donate to his 2012 re-election campaign. Last fall, a jury deliberated for 11 days but couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
While testimony last year took three weeks, Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson said Friday she expected it to last about two weeks this time.
Ellis, who has been suspended with pay for two years, is accused in a nine-count indictment of extortion, attempted extortion, bribery and perjury. District Attorney Robert James dropped four charges against Ellis that were part of the first trial.
Both sides will use their experiences from last year to streamline and tweak the cases.
Kelvin Walton, the former head of purchasing for the county, is expected to testify again.
Walton, who agreed to help in the case against Ellis to avoid facing charges himself, secretly recorded Ellis complaining that vendors were ignoring his campaign solicitation phone calls. Ellis went on to say they shouldn’t get county business if they were so unresponsive to the head of the government that paid them significant amounts of money.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Timmons said political consultant Kevin Ross and former Fire Chief Eddie O’Brien also may be called to testify. Timmons said they would help prove allegations that Ellis lied under oath when he told a special purpose grand jury he didn’t get involved in who received contracts from the county.
One of Ellis’ attorneys, Anthony Lake, argued during a hearing Friday that prosecutors were twisting Ellis’ words.
He objected to a secret recording in which a representative for Motorola asked Ellis about the status of a county contract as he solicited a campaign contribution.
“Oh, you want me to rush yours but you can’t rush mine,” Ellis said on the Oct. 25, 2012, recording made by Walton, which was also played for the original jury last fall. “She wants me to rush … and get that contract, but you can’t rush this check.”
Lake said Ellis was “clearly joking” when he talked about rushing a contract in connection with a campaign contribution from Motorola.
“He should not be forced to have that evidence introduced against him in a criminal trial,” Lake said. “This is another instance of piling on Mr. Ellis.”
Timmons responded that Ellis wasn’t joking.
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