Four attorneys representing eight defendants in the Atlanta test-cheating case on Friday appealed a judge’s ruling that they cannot represent more than one defendant each.
On May 2, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter, citing potential conflicts of interest, told the lawyers they could not represent two defendants at a time.
The eight defendants pursuing the appeal are among 35 former Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators charged with racketeering, making false statements, influencing witnesses and theft by taking.
The four attorneys had asked Baxter for his permission to file a pretrial appeal, but the judge denied it. He said he felt confident in his decision and did not want to delay the case.
The attorneys are appealing the decision anyway. If the Court of Appeals accepts the request, it could take several months to decide the issue. If the court denies the request, the eight defendants will have to get separate lawyers.
“We think it’s a good application,” said Decatur attorney Bob Rubin, who represents co-defendants Dana Evans and Willie Davenport. “We hope the Court of Appeals will grant it.”
Baxter is allowing the four attorneys to continue representing the eight defendants while the appeal is pending.
In a written order, Baxter expressed concern that months into the case a defendant represented by one attorney could accept a plea deal from prosecutors and then give unfavorable testimony against another defendant represented by the same attorney.
In a jointly filed appeal, the lawyers said Baxter did not hear evidence on the issue but decided that “the mere possibility of a conflict arising sometime in the future was sufficient to exercise his discretion in disqualifying counsel from representing multiple defendants.” The judge should not base such a decision on “pure speculation and conjecture,” the appeal said.
Other attorneys pursuing the appeal are Sanford Wallack, who represents Dessa Curb and Gloria Ivey; Gerald Griggs, who represents Angela Williamson and Starlette Mitchell; and Bruce Harvey, who represents Lera Middlebrooks and Clarietta Davis.
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