Changes to Atlanta bribery figure’s divorce case after tense hearing

After a tense, two-hour hearing Monday, a judge agreed to add two relatives as defendants in a divorce case involving a central figure in the Atlanta City Hall bribery scandal.

Elvin "E.R." Mitchell Jr., the federal government's star witness in the bribery case, is in the process of a heated divorce from his wife, Marjorie Mitchell. An attorney for Marjorie Mitchell amended the divorce complaint to add E.R. Mitchell's mother and sister, as well as several companies, in a search for assets she alleges might belong to the marital estate.

Both women have worked or otherwise been involved with companies tied to E.R. Mitchell, a long-time contractor who pleaded guilty in January conspiracy to pay bribes to win government work. The lawyer for Marjorie Mitchell wants to know if they might have inadvertantly obtained assets that should be considered in family court.