The first time prosecutors tried DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis for alleged corruption, they told the jury the case could be summed up with three words: power, punishment and perjury.
Those jurors couldn’t reach a decision after 11 days of deliberation, and a mistrial was declared.
In the suspended politician’s second trial, prosecutors adopted a new tagline — debt, desperation and deceit — and a different tack.
“The prosecution pared down its case a good bit,” said former DeKalb District Attorney J. Tom Morgan, who was on Ellis’ defense team for the trial last year. “It made it simpler for the jury to understand.”
Testimony in last fall’s trial lasted 15 days. During this month’s retrial, it took 11 days to present witnesses and evidence.
Ellis is accused of illegally strong-arming county vendors for campaign contributions, threatening their contracts if they ignored his solicitations.
He faced 13 counts of extortion, bribery, perjury, theft and coercion during the first trial, but James dropped the two counts of theft and two counts of coercion before jury selection began in the second trial June 1.
“The other indictment was really pretty convoluted. The rule is keep it simple, stupid. In the first case they didn’t do that,” Morgan said.
To support their allegations, prosecutors played hours of secretly recorded conversations in which Ellis talks about halting or freezing county business to vendors who didn’t return the many phone calls he left. Ellis was looking for financial help to retire the debt on his 2012 re-election campaign.
Ellis has denied breaking the law. He said he questioned contracts with certain vendors only because they didn’t return his calls, as many as 17 for one vendor.
Vendors should always return calls to the head of the county that awarded them lucrative contracts, regardless of the reason for those calls, Ellis said in the recordings and on the stand.
Both the defense and prosecution “narrowed testimony to hit high points. Faster. Less irrelevant material,” said attorney Robin Frazier Clark, who is not involved in the case but has watched with interest.
To courtroom observers, the other significant differences are Ellis’ smaller defense team and a dramatically different jury.
Instead of four seasoned attorneys and their staffs, Ellis kept only one of those original four.
Last year, an all-female jury heard the case and couldn’t agree on any of the counts. Personality clashes got in the way, according to notes they sent the judge.
This jury, however, is more diverse, with six men and six women. So far, only one problem in the jury room has been brought to the judge, when one juror was late and another criticized her.
Ellis testified during both trials, sparring with James over whether he was simply a stickler for returning phone calls or a bully using his office to cover his campaign debt so he would not be personally responsible for it.
Former county purchasing chief Kelvin Walton, who made the secret recordings of Ellis, testified in smaller chunks this time. During both trials, Ellis’ attorneys attacked his credibility. After being unable to reach a verdict, some jurors last fall said later they didn’t believe his testimony.
This time, Walton wasn’t on the stand for four days in a row, but was called seven times for short stints to offer testimony to reinforce other witnesses’ recollections.
“That’s unique,” said Clark, past president of the State Bar of Georgia. “I don’t think I’ve seen where you continue to call the same witnesses.”
Walton was contrite last time. He came off as an eager-to-please, self-described “yes man” who was trying to escape criminal charges himself for lying under oath.
This time, Walton fought back. He repeatedly told Gillen that he was representing a liar in Ellis.
“He’s a liar. … You’re representing a liar,” Walton said.
“You are a liar,” Gillen said.
“And so is your client. When is your client going to admit to that?” Walton said.
About the Author
