The judge overseeing the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating trial on Tuesday questioned the strength of the most serious charge — that of racketeering — facing each of the 12 former educators.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter made the comment before jurors were called into the courtroom to hear another day’s testimony.
The charge under the Racketeer and Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, is by far the most serious count facing all 12 defendants. It carries a maximum punishment of up to 20 years in prison. The indictment alleges the former educators engaged in a racketeering conspiracy to change students’ answers on standardized tests.
“I’m somewhat doubtful about the RICO,” Baxter told attorneys, giving his assessment of the testimony he’s seen to date.
But the judge noted that most of the defendants also face lesser felony charges, such as influencing witnesses, theft by taking, false swearing and false statements and writings. Former regional supervisor Tamara Cotman is the only defendant who faces a single count of racketeering and no other charge.
It’s possible jurors could ultimately reach a compromise, Baxter surmised, meaning they could acquit the former educators of racketeering and convict on some of the lesser charges.
Still, some of those lesser charges carry sentences of up to five years in prison.
“I’ve told y’all, you’re taking a big gamble here,” Baxter warned. “… If found guilty, they need to know there could be dire consequences.”
Baxter added that he has “some sympathy” for some of the defendants, although he did not identify them by name.
Atlanta criminal defense lawyer Steve Sadow, who is not involved in the APS case, said Baxter’s comments would take on extraordinary significance if they mean he is seriously considering whether to grant a defense motion to throw out the RICO count when the prosecution rests its case. Such a ruling, called a directed verdict, is given when a judge believes no reasonable jury could find any of the defendants guilty of the charge.
Sometimes, a judge will give a hint like the one given by Baxter in the hope it will prod the prosecution and the defense to reach some kind of resolution that ends the case, Atlanta attorney Paul Kish said. “We obviously do not know if that is what Judge Baxter did today, but it sounds as if he has some serious doubts as to whether the state can prove the RICO charge.”
Tuesday marked the 28th day of testimony in the long-running trial. The state has so far called 59 witnesses and dozens more are expected to take the stand.
Baxter seemed to acknowledge this. “It could be the state prevails and (jurors) find a RICO verdict,” he said before calling the jury in. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The racketeering count accuses the 12 defendants of using the Atlanta school system to carry out illegal activity — tampering with students’ answers and then trying to cover it up. In doing so, the indictment alleges, the defendants conspired to acquire “U.S. currency, the property of the Atlanta Public Schools and the Georgia Department of Education.”
Defense attorneys have tried to punch holes in this allegation through a number of prosecution witnesses who admitted changing students’ answers from wrong to right, but who said obtaining bonus money for meeting test targets was not a motivating factor.
They continued this line of questioning Tuesday when former Parks Middle School Principal Christopher Waller returned to the witness stand. Waller testified Monday that he orchestrated rampant test-cheating at Parks over a four-year period.
Like witnesses before him, Waller testified it wasn’t bonus money that drove the cheating at Parks. “We were not getting wealthy … or putting money offshore,” he told one defense attorney.
Prosecutor Clint Rucker tried a different tack. He got Waller to acknowledge that his primary motivation to cheat was to meet targets so he could keep his job. At that time, Waller said, he was earning almost $100,000 a year.
“That’s money, isn’t it?” Rucker asked. “That’s money you received from APS.”
Waller was called as a prosecution witness against former regional supervisor Michael Pitts. Waller testified that when he alerted Pitts of test-cheating, Pitts looked the other way and told his principal to keep his mouth shut.
On Tuesday, during a rigorous cross-examination, Pitts’ lawyer, George Lawson, accused Waller of saying whatever it took to keep himself out of jail. Lawson noted that Waller agreed to pay $50,000 in fines and restitution in exchange for five years’ probation, and he will not have a conviction on his record if he successfully completes his sentence.
“You’re a free man,” Lawson said. “Pay it and walk away. You bought yourself out.”
But Waller countered, “If I didn’t tell the truth, there’d be no plea deal. … I pleaded guilty. I didn’t buy it. I owned it.”
The questioning turned testy when Lawson returned to a subject he’d broached on Monday — Waller’s affairs with four of his teachers at Parks.
After once again owning up to his indiscretions, Waller looked up at Lawson and asked matter-of-factly, “Do you want to go down that road?”
When Lawson then asked Waller whether Pitts ever came down on him because of the affairs, Waller said that never happened. “I’m sure he was dealing with his own,” Waller said of his former boss.
Questions about the affairs stopped there.
About the Author
