Clayton County's top prosecutor Tuesday night blasted three commissioners who she said tried to circumvent her shredded document case against the county finance director.
District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson told the commissioners they had violated state open meeting law by adding two items to the agenda without proper notice. The two resolutions were quickly approved. One said the commissioners would not waive attorney-client privilege for two county attorneys who have been subpoenaed as witnesses in the case against finance director Angela Jackson. Lawson subpoenaed chief staff attorney Michael Smith and staff attorney Christie Barnes last week. (Jackson's attorney has filed a motion to quash the subpoenas.)
The other resolution deals with another issue central to the DA’s case: record retention. The board backed a policy implemented by Jackson a couple of years ago that calls for shredding call logs of cell phone bills after they are received in Jackson’s office.
Lawson is seeking indictments against Jackson accusing her of four felony counts of “avoid a public record” and a misdemeanor count of violating the state’s record retention law. Jackson also is accused of not keeping detailed records of who elected officials and county employees talk to when using county-issued phones.
Lawson aimed her attack at Commissioners Wole Ralph, Gail Hambrick and Sonna Singleton, who voted for both resolutions. Chairman Eldrin Bell voted against them. Commissioner Michael Edmondson was absent.
“We were advised by legal counsel to introduce those resolutions,” Ralph said. He referred further questions to attorney Jack Hancock, an outside counsel for the county. Hancock, who did not attend Tuesday's County Commission meeting, declined to comment because the case is ongoing.
Community activist Pamela Noah of Rex also objected to the board's action during Tuesday's meeting. Noah and Rosa Barbee, also of Rex, had filed an open records request in December for cell phone records for each commissioner and Wade Starr, the county's fleet maintenance director. Noah and Barbee were told the records didn't exist, but they learned the records had been shredded.
About the Author
