DeKalb County prosecutors, determined to “win at all costs,” engaged in illegal activity during an investigation that led to CEO Burrell Ellis’ indictment on corruption charges, Ellis’ lawyers alleged in a court motion filed Thursday.
The motion accused District Attorney Robert James of illegally videotaping Ellis during the investigation .
The covert video recording of Ellis was done without a court order by Kelvin Walton, the county’s purchasing director who has been cooperating with prosecutors throughout the investigation, the motion alleged. Walton, named as an unindicted co-conspirator, wore a “super spy” wristwatch to secretly record video of his meetings with Ellis, the motion said.
The video recording is illegal under Georgia law because it happened in a non-public place and without Ellis' consent, the motion said. It did not specify when or where the video was taken.
“It is clear that DeKalb County is being dominated by a prosecutor on an unrestrained witch hunt, the goal of which has been Mr. Ellis’ permanent removal from office and who, in his zeal to destroy CEO Ellis, has committed criminal acts,” the motion said.
A District Attorney’s Office spokesman on Thursday said James will not comment on the pending matter.
But the court motion indicates that current or former District Attorney’s Office employees have been talking to Ellis’ lawyers and providing information used for the basis for the allegations. The motion does not identify these individuals, except as “a staff member,” “a former employee” and “sources of unblemished reputation.”
James told one staff member he had several video recordings of Ellis. But not all the videos were not turned over to Ellis’ defense team as required during the pretrial exchange of evidence known as discovery, the motion said.
Craig Gillen, who leads Ellis’ defense team, said his motion speaks for itself and declined further comment.
It is possible the unidentified individuals will be called to testify during pretrial hearings on Jan. 23.
“It’s all-out warfare,” said Atlanta attorney Steve Sadow, who has been closely following the case. “Clearly, by filing these motions, the defense has absolutely no intention to seek a negotiated resolution to this case because it has burned any and every bridge that would allow even a plea to the pettiest of misdemeanors.”
Allegations such as those lodged Thursday are easy to make, Sadow said.
“The proof will be in the witnesses who testify,” he said. “If a judge is convinced that video recordings were made and either destroyed or not disclosed to the defense, District Attorney James is in trouble.”
The motion asks Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson to dismiss the indictment and refer the allegations to the GBI. Alternatively, it asks her to disqualify the DA’s Office from the case and refer it to the state Attorney General’s Office for the appointment of a special prosecutor.
Ellis was indicted in June on 14 felonies including extortion, conspiracy and theft for allegedly strong-arming county vendors into donating to his political campaign and punishing those who refused. He also is accused of using county employees, during working hours, to help him raise the cash.
The motion said James showed a member of his staff a secretly recorded video of Ellis sitting at a desk making a phone call, apparently seeking a campaign contribution. “Now we’ve got him,” James boasted to his staff member, the motion said.
The staff member then told James, who said he had “quite a few” of the videos, that the recording had been obtained illegally, the motion said. “Yet, in spite of (James’) own unlawful conduct, the hunt continued,” the motion said.
The motion also alleges that James and interim CEO Lee May were in cahoots as personal friends and political allies in the “witch hunt” against Ellis.
Specifically, the new filings say that James described May, when he served as a county commissioner, as being his “inside man” to win approval for $150,000 needed to buy wiretap and video equipment for the Ellis investigation. May also provided names of people he thought would make allegations against Ellis, the motion said.
At that time, DeKalb was struggling to balance its budget. Ellis’ 2012 budget proposal for the DA’s office cut $410,000 from what had been paid in salaries the previous year. It also did not authorize $500,000 James had requested to pay for the public corruption investigation and review possible test cheating at county schools.
After The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote about the lack of money for the probes, the commission’s budget committee, which May headed, recommended restoring $186,000 for the corruption probe. The full commission later agreed.
May was unavailable Thursday because he was out of town for a funeral. But his senior adviser, Edmond Richardson, called Ellis’ conspiracy allegations “outlandish and wrong.”
“(May) is in no way connected to this ongoing criminal case, and it is shameful his good character is being unfairly and inaccurately represented in this court motion.” Richardson said.
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