Charges have been dropped against a Paulding County man who had been accused of trying to intimidate a key witness in the Atlanta City Hall bribery scandal.
On Thursday, Fulton County prosecutors dropped the case against Shandarrick Barnes, who had been indicted for allegedly throwing a brick through the window of contractor Elvin "E.R." Mitchell Jr.'s southwest Atlanta home. Mitchell pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to pay more than $1 million in bribes in a cash-for-contracts scheme.
A lawyer for Barnes filed a motion earlier this month to suppress evidence in the case, including a purported taped confession. In the motion, attorney Ted Salter contended prosecutors had admitted "a significant portion of its file is missing". In an email attached to his motion, Salter contended that the confession may have been lost.
Now Salter said he is working to get his client released from state custody.
Barnes’ parole for a prior conviction was revoked and he is currently incarcerated at a state prison in Jackson.
“I am trying to get my client released immediately,” Salter said, adding that he has written to the state parole board for Barnes’ release.
“Let him out and let him see if he can get his job back,” Salter said of Barnes, calling his detention “a strain on his wife and daughter.”
Barnes was arrested by Atlanta police in November. The alleged incident occurred in September 2015.
Barnes pleaded not guilty to felony counts of making terroristic threats and criminal damage to property in the second degree.
The bribery case involving Mitchell is federal matter, but the alleged act of vandalism was brought in Fulton County Superior Court.
Mitchell told police officers at the time of the brick incident he was working with federal authorities on a case. Written on the brick was an unmistakable threat: "ER, keep your mouth shut!!! Shut up."
Dead rats also were left on Mitchell’s property.
Barnes once worked for a former executive at one of Mitchell's companies. That executive, Mitzi Bickers, is a reverend and political consultant who played a key role in Mayor Kasim Reed's 2009 election and served in Reed's administration from 2010 to 2013. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records related to her from the city of Atlanta and Clayton County, where she now works as a chaplain for Clayton Sheriff Victor Hill.
Police records from Barnes’ arrest said Barnes confessed to the brick incident and that the confession was recorded by the FBI. Salter said earlier this month in his motion the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office relied on the purported confession tape in charging his client.
As part of his motion to suppress evidence, Salter included emails he sent to Fulton prosecutors seeking the purported confession and other evidence, including victim statements, cellphone records and recorded conversations between Barnes and Mitchell.
But Salter said he never received the purported confession tape.
In an email attached to Salter’s motion earlier this month, Deputy District Attorney Fani Willis wrote Salter and stated she believed Salter had “all the information we have.”
Willis did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
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