Log on to MyAJC.com for the latest news updates in the Burrell Ellis corruption trial. AJC reporters are stationed in the courtroom to publish the verdict immediately. Get all your latest local news at MyAJC.com.
During the long wait for a verdict in the trial of DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis, perhaps the most exciting moment in the courtroom Wednesday came when Deputy A. Owens gave away a leftover key lime cupcake for spectators to share.
That free treat roused the handful of observers who otherwise await the flashing of a blue light above the door to the jury room, which signals that jurors have a question and gives faint hope that the 5 1/2-week trial might be nearing a conclusion.
More times than not, the light has meant the 12 women who have spent the seven days locked in a room together wanted coffee or a lunch break or to go home for the day.
Boredom has taken control in the seventh floor hallway and in courtroom 7D, where Ellis went on trial Sept. 8 on extortion and bribery charges that allege he forced county employees to put together vendor lists so he could strong-arm businesses into giving to his 2012 re-election campaign.
Most of the time, a handful of reporters and gadflies try to stay occupied during the dull moments until the blue light blinks, causing Ellis, his attorneys and prosecutors to file into court to hear Judge Courtney Johnson deliver the jury’s message.
Some of those waiting pass the time reading, like lead defense attorney Craig Gillen or the cameraman who feeds video to news stations.
Some play games or watch videos on their laptops.
Reporters in the media room on the courthouse ground floor rehash the testimony and speculate as to what is going on in the jury room. Will jurors’ next message once again tell the judge they can’t agree? Will they announce they have reached verdicts on all 13 charges? Will the next note be a request to go home for the day?
R.B. Williams, retired after 26 years with the DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management, waits in the same seat he has taken each day of testimony and each day of jury deliberations. Sometimes Williams naps. Sometimes he just sits, leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees.
“I’ve been in a lot of trials and I’ve sat on a lot of juries, but this is a new one to me,” Williams, 62, said about the pace of the Ellis jury’s deliberations.
Ellis and his wife have waited out of sight, in a private room a few doors from the courtroom while his elderly mother sits patiently on the end of the same front-row pew where she has sat each day, directly behind her son when he is in the courtroom.
Prosecutors were on standby in their offices two floors down and in an adjoining building.
Everyone was anxious for a decision from the jury. After hearing 15 days of testimony, they have spent a little more than about 29 hours actually deliberating.
While personality conflicts developed last week among the jurors behind a closed door, friendships have been born on the other side of that same hallway in the courtroom.
“Everybody knows each other now,” said Joy Williams, who reads between conversations with her new acquaintances.
And they debate the merits of court shows like “Judge Judy.”
“I asked a real judge about her,” said Patricia Ross, a retired IT security manager who is playing a video card game on her tablet. “She’s awful.”
“No she isn’t,” Williams barks back. “If those criminals (before Judge Judy) would do what they are supposed to do, they wouldn’t be there.”
Their debate stops abruptly at 2:47 p.m. because the blue light over the door is flashing, indicating the jurors have a message.
Owens’ announcement returns them to their boredom.
The jurors wanted coffee.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
