A Cobb County mother has opted for a new trial to defend herself against accusations that she was responsible for the death of her 4-year-old son, her attorney said.
Raquel Nelson, convicted on three charges after A.J. Nelson was killed by a hit-and-run driver, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 hours of community service and 12 months' probation -- and then offered a new trial.
The judge's unusual decision was announced at a sentencing hearing Tuesday in Cobb County State Court.
“[Ms. Nelson] is planning to exercise her right to a new trial,” attorney David Savoy said.
No date has been set for the new trial.
Judge Katherine Tanksley sentenced Nelson to 12 months probation for the first two counts and 12 months probation for the third count, to be served concurrently.
Tanksley also suspended $1,000 fines that could be levied for each misdemeanor count.
If Nelson is acquitted in a new trial, her record would be cleared.
Nelson, 30, was convicted earlier this month of homicide by vehicle in the second degree, crossing roadway elsewhere than at crosswalk and reckless conduct in the April 10, 2010 incident.
She and her three children were trying to cross four-lane Austell Road to their apartment after getting off a Cobb Community Transit bus.
A.J. was struck by a car and killed. The mother and her younger daughter suffered minor injuries, while her older daughter was not hurt.
Jerry L. Guy, the driver who admitted hitting A.J. when he pleaded guilty to hit-and-run, served six months in jail, despite having been convicted in 1997 of a similar offense. He was released in October and will serve the remainder of his five-year sentence on probation.
National media outlets, from CNN and ABC News to Reuters, were in the courtroom for Nelson's case. More than 40 people, including family and friends, came early to support Nelson and demand leniency against her, asking that she not be sent to jail.
“We thank this organization of mothers and parents who just want to see justice,” the Rev. Dwight Graves, president of the Cobb County SCLC, said as he led a prayer before the hearing.
Nelson’s brother Emoni Love, called before the judge to speak as a character witness, said his sister had compassion for Guy, even though he saw Guy as being at fault.
“When I was upset about what [Guy] got, I was angry, and my sister told me not to have hate in my heart,” Love said, shedding tears as he spoke. “Please send my sister home with us. She does not deserve to be in jail.”
Cobb County Assistant Solictor AnnaMarie Baltz told the judge early in Tuesday’s sentencing hearing that prosecutors only recommended probation and community service.
“The state never thought this defendant deserved jail time,” Baltz said.
But Beverly Ward, A.J.’s pre-K teacher, said that even probation was too much.
“The purpose of punishment is for a person to pay their debt to society,” Ward said. “Every time she has to check in with a probation officer or tell somebody what happened, she will have to relive this.
“She already has to relive it everyday. Her debt is paid. Every time she talks to her other children about A.J., or when she calls to check on his teachers, her debt is paid.”
Thomas Casillas, a family friend, read a letter from Nelson’s father, George Nelson, who is in South Africa and unable to attend the hearing.
“We want to put the negative parts of this behind us,” Casillas read from the letter. “Let my family heal.”
On Monday, Nelson discussed her case with Ann Curry, anchor of NBC’s "Today" show.
That maximum sentence would be "three years away from the two [children] that I have left,” Nelson said then.
Nelson’s aunt, Loretta Williams, said on the show that she and the rest of Nelson’s family hoped that the judge “is compassionate and will let my niece remain with her other children.”
In court Tuesday, Tanksley acknowledged that her office had received numerous letters and emails requesting leniency.
The standing-room-only courtroom erupted in applause when Tanksley initially announced the sentence – and that Nelson would not go to jail – but the judge quickly silenced family members and well-wishers who crowded in to support the mother.
Then, after reading through more legalese, Tanksley released the bombshell decision.
“The court grants you a new trial as to all the charges,” she said to Nelson.
During the trial, Nelson said she and her children crossed Austell Road outside a crosswalk because the nearest one was 0.3 mile away, and she was “trying to hurry up and get home so we wouldn’t have to be in the dark.”
Sally Flocks, president and CEO of the nonprofit pedestrian advocacy group PEDS, said Cobb County and CCT should revisit how bus stops are placed.
“Cobb needs to modernize,” Flocks said. “The population here has evolved. It’s not all just people who drive. And that [vehicular homicide] law needs to be amended to make it only apply to people in vehicles.”
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