A Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied requests to dismiss the political corruption case against suspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis and refused to disqualify the county’s District Attorney’s office from prosecuting him.
Judge Courtney Johnson also made it clear that the nasty tone of the case must change. Hearings on pre-trial motions have been filled with prosecutors and Ellis’ defense team trading jabs and accusations of wrongdoing.
At least six times Tuesday, when arguments strayed from legal issues and became personal, Johnson told both sides to “move on.”
Ellis, whose case is scheduled to go to trial in two months, has been charged with 14 felonies that accuse him of shaking down county vendors for campaign cash and punishing those who did not give. Ellis has denied wrongdoing and said his prosecution by District Attorney Robert James is politically motivated.
The judge shot down Ellis’ defense team’s attempt to toss evidence seized from a search of his home and office.
Johnson struck down the defense’s attempt to show the search warrant was flawed because the attorneys presented no evidence to back up their claim.
“Any attorney can make any assertion that they please in a pleading. But there has to be evidence presented,” Johnson said. “Let’s consider the evidence, please.”
In a six-page order, Johnson rejected Ellis’ assertion that he is the victim of selective prosecution. Ellis could have prevailed in that argument by presenting evidence that showed individuals in similar situations were generally not prosecuted for the same behavior, Johnson wrote.
Ellis’ lawyers contended that the suspended CEO’s “class” was that of a political official and that no other such officials have been prosecuted for similar conduct.
For example, they argued, James and Interim CEO Lee May essentially committed the same acts when they used county funds and county employees to host 2013’s Senior Ball, a safety forum that the defense contends was a political event.
Ellis’ legal team also contended that James improperly used forfeiture funds to pay for office training, and that James and one of his chief assistants failed to disclose the transfers of campaign funds. No one was charged with these alleged offenses, the defense said.
But raising only three allegations against two public officials fails to show “a pattern of non-enforcement,” Johnson found.
Ellis also failed to show that there were no prosecutions of misconduct similar to the allegations against him — that he required county employees to generate vendor lists in order to solicit campaign contributions, that he made these solicitations and that a failure to contribute resulted in a threat to cancel the vendor’s contract or disparage its reputation, she said.
In the same order, Johnson said Ellis’ team failed to show James had a conflict of interest or had made some improper personal comment about Ellis’ guilt. Either would disqualify the DA, but Ellis’ arguments that James conducted illegal surveillance of him did not meet the standard.
In the courtroom Tuesday, lead defense attorney Craig Gillen tried to play two DVDs and 32 audio recordings. The recordings show selective prosecution, he said, because in them Ellis can be heard saying he doesn’t care about campaign contributions.
Johnson wouldn’t allow the recordings to be entered, however, saying the defense team did not file them with the court as required.
Johnson said she will rule on most outstanding issues by week’s end. Ellis is slated to head to trial on June 2.
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