Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter has asked a court to reconsider its dismissal of an indictment against former County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly.
In a request filed with the Georgia Court of Appeals Monday, Porter said the court erred in a July 6 ruling that found a special grand jury, while investigating questionable Gwinnett land deals, did not have the power to indict Kenerly.
Even as he asks the court to readdress its ruling, Porter plans to seek a second indictment against Kenerly with a new grand jury.
Porter’s actions are the latest twists in a legal battle that has kept Kenerly in limbo for months.
A special grand jury last October indicted Kenerly on a felony count of bribery, saying he accepted or agreed to accept payments totaling $1 million as bribes for arranging County Commission real estate purchases. Kenerly also faced two misdemeanor counts of failing to disclose a partnership with a developer who had obtained county rezoning for two properties.
The charges followed the grand jury’s 10-month investigation of questionable county land deals, which was prompted by a series of Atlanta Journal-Constitution articles. The jury’s report found commissioners overspent on land to benefit friends and political allies.
Kenerly denied the allegations and appealed his indictment to the Court of Appeals, arguing the special grand jury did not have the authority to indict him.
On July 6 the Court of Appeals sided with Kenerly, saying the jury lacked the authority to issue the indictment. The special purpose grand jury was impaneled only to investigate the land deals, the court said.
Porter has said the court’s ruling could strip grand juries of significant power and deprive prosecutors of a valuable tool. If the Court of Appeals declines to reconsider its ruling, he plans to take the issue to the state Supreme Court.
Regardless of what the courts decide about the special grand jury’s powers, Kenerly might have a short-lived reprieve. Porter said Tuesday he will ask the regular Gwinnett grand jury to indict the former commissioner.
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