APS cheating trial’s end in sight
CONTINUING COVERAGE
In 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the first of what would be several stories highlighting suspect test scores in Atlanta Public Schools and other Georgia districts. In the years that followed, the newspaper kept digging, and eventually special investigators appointed by the governor exposed widespread cheating in the 50,000-student APS district. The APS trial is the latest chapter in that coverage. Jury selection began on Aug. 11, and opening arguments and testimony started on Sept. 29.
The end is near for the tortuously long Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating trial.
Now in its 19th week of testimony, the consensus was the trial would not conclude until about April. But on Monday, defense attorneys rapidly called nine witnesses, most of them to speak to the good character of some of the 12 defendants. Then at the end of the day, lawyers told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter they might be done Tuesday, or no later than Wednesday.
Prosecutors said they most likely will call only three rebuttal witnesses, which is all that remains before closing arguments.
Still, closing arguments won’t take place before March 16, the first day of court after a long-planned spring break scheduled to begin March 5.
“I would like deliberations to occur immediately after closing arguments,” Baxter explained.
If prosecutors finish with rebuttals before March 5, the trial’s spring break will begin early.
Twelve former APS educators are accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy to change wrong answers on the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test. The alleged purpose: to inflate test scores to meet national standards and increase the chance of bonuses for district employees.
Conviction on the racketeering count could bring up to 20 years in prison. But even a lesser, underlying charge — such as lying on a document, or misleading investigators — could bring prison time.
So far, 10 of the 12 defendants have announced they will not testify. Donald Bullock, the former testing coordinator at Usher Collier Heights Elementary, and former Dunbar Elementary School teacher Pamela Cleveland have not decided whether they will take the stand.
Baxter asked Monday for decisions on testifying. He told the defendants they could be cross-examined if they testified. He also assured them he would tell jurors they should not read anything into a defendant’s decision to exercise his or her right to remain silent.
The trial’s stepped-up pace on Monday stood in sharp contrast to the sometimes plodding course the case taken since jury selection began on Aug. 11.
Over the months, Baxter has been frustrated. He has often asked how many more witnesses were left or sharply rebuked prosecutors and defense attorneys whom he perceived as taking too long.
Yet it was only two weeks ago, on Feb. 11, that jurors broke into applause when the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office rested its case after calling more than 130 witnesses.
On Monday, lawyers for the following four defendants rested:
- Former school district executive director Michael Pitts;
- Former Benteen Elementary School testing coordinator Theresia Copeland;
- Former Dobbs Elementary School teacher Dessa Curb;
- Former Dunbar Elementary School teacher Shani Robinson, who is expecting her first child in April.
A fifth lawyer has only an issue with documents to address and then his defense of former Dobbs Elementary School principal Dana Evans will be complete.
Defense attorneys used their witnesses to discredit those called by the prosecution, or to praise a defendant’s character.
The recurring theme from witnesses called on behalf of Evans was that she was a “visionary” who tried to fix a broken school. Several testified that Evans’ management message was, “We’re all in this together.”
“She believed in our students. She made sure they had the tools to be successful and prepared for the 21st century,” Deandrea Johnson, a media specialist at Dobbs for the past eight years, testified Monday.
Prosecutors contend former Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall was the head of the alleged cheating conspiracy. Hall is not yet on trial, however, because she has Stage IV breast cancer. Her lawyers and doctors have said she is too weak to endure hours in court.
