The lawyer for a Paulding County man accused of throwing a brick through the living room window of a key figure in the Atlanta City Hall bribery scandal is moving to have evidence, including a purported taped confession from his client, suppressed in the case.
The attorney for Shandarrick L. Barnes filed a motion this week in Fulton County Superior Court contending he and his client haven’t received a copy of Barnes’ alleged confession or other key evidence they are entitled to examine before trial under the discovery process.
Worse, attorney Ted Salter contends, prosecutors have admitted “a significant portion of its file is missing.” Salter also said in an email April 19 to prosecutors that he was told by Barnes’ former lawyer that she was informed by prosecutors “that the recording [of the confession] had ‘been lost.’”
Barnes was arrested by Atlanta police in November and accused of tossing a brick through the window of contractor Elvin "E.R." Mitchell Jr.'s southwest Atlanta home and depositing dead rats on his property in September 2015.
Barnes has pleaded not guilty to felony counts of making terroristic threats and criminal damage to property in the second degree.
The bribery case is federal matter, but the act of vandalism is being tried in superior court.
Mitchell is the federal government's star witness in the ongoing bribery investigation. Mitchell pleaded guilty in January to charges he conspired to pay bribes in order to win city of Atlanta contracts.
Another contractor has also pleaded guilty. Both men have agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
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.”
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 this week 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 confession and other evidence, including victim statements, cellphone records and recorded conversations between Barnes and Mitchell.
On Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Fani Willis wrote Salter and stated she believed Salter had “all the information we have.”
“I have not received anything from the Federal government to date and I am not sure when/if they are releasing it,” Willis said in the email.
Willis and a spokesperson for the D.A.’s office did not immediately return email messages seeking comment. An FBI spokesman in Atlanta declined comment, citing agency policy regarding ongoing investigations.
A trial date has not been set.
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