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Ethics case against ex-DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis dismissed

The DeKalb County Board of Ethics voted 4-0 on Thursday to dismiss a complaint against former DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis: From left: Board members Scott Bonder, Robert Tatum, Dan DeWoskin and Brian Deutch. MARK NIESSE / MARK.NIESSE@AJC.COM
The DeKalb County Board of Ethics voted 4-0 on Thursday to dismiss a complaint against former DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis: From left: Board members Scott Bonder, Robert Tatum, Dan DeWoskin and Brian Deutch. MARK NIESSE / MARK.NIESSE@AJC.COM
By Mark Niesse
March 16, 2017

The DeKalb County Board of Ethics on Thursday dismissed a complaint against former DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis, whose conviction was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court last year.

The board voted 4-0 to end the case, which was based on the same allegations Ellis faced during two criminal trials. Prosecutors had accused Ellis of threatening county contractors who resisted donating to his 2012 re-election campaign.

The DeKalb County district attorney announced Monday that she will not prosecute former county CEO Burrell Ellis after a Supreme Court judge over turned his conviction.

A jury found Ellis guilty of attempted extortion and perjury in July 2015, but the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in November that he had been denied a fair trial. DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston dropped the charges in February.

DeKalb Board of Ethics Chairman Dan DeWoskin said the board shouldn’t spend time and money to investigate the case again.

"This (case) is something that the public is well aware of,” DeWoskin said. “I don’t think it’s worth the resources.”

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About the Author

Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.

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