DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said Monday he will honor a request from Bishop Eddie Long to dismiss burglary charges against a former security guard charged in a 2010 theft at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.
"We decided to cut our losses," said James, adding prosecution would be complicated by Long's reluctance to testify against Anthony Boyd. Also, "the defendant is not accused of using a weapon and doesn't have a bad criminal history."
Boyd, 20, on Monday told the AJC that he spoke to Long last week and was told, "You don't have anything to worry about."
Long tried last August to convince then-District Attorney Gwen Keyes-Fleming to drop the burglary charges against Boyd.
Boyd and another suspect, Maurice Robinson, were arrested in June of 2010 with breaking into Long's office at New Birth. James noted both suspects were offered entry into a pre-trial diversion program in exchange for having the charges dismissed. Robinson, who later filed a civil lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct against Long, accepted the deal; Boyd said he didn't complete the program because he was innocent.
"I had nothing to do with it," Boyd said of the burglary. "This has been over a year of my life worrying about what was going to happen."
Entering the program would've required Boyd to at least acknowledge there was sufficient evidence against him, said his attorney, David Fife.
"Boyd took a great risk," Fife said. He was arraigned June 28 and headed due for trial Oct. 3.
Long moved to have the charges dismissed after learning he would be called to testify, Fife said.
"The reason we wanted him to testify is to establish the motive, and clearly Anthony didn't have [a motive]," he said, referring to attorney B.J. Bernstein's assertion that Robinson, her client, participated in the burglary as means of retaliating against Long. Boyd was not involved in the sexual coercion lawsuit against the bishop.
Boyd was viewed merely as a "party to a crime" -- not one of its instigators, James said.
"We were never chomping at the bit to prosecute," he said.
The former security guard was accused of using his access at New Birth to help Robinson gain entry into Long's office. No evidence was ever presented that Boyd participated in the actual theft of jewelry and electronics totaling roughly $100,000.
"This is a blessed opportunity for Anthony Boyd. ... We remain prayerful for he and his family and wish him well in his future life pursuits," said Long in an email.
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