Five private attorneys have notified the court that they will be representing the homeless man accused of setting a fire that led to the collapse of a portion of Interstate 85.
According to court records, Basil Eleby is being represented by Lawrence Zimmerman, Gerald Griggs, Mawuli Davis, Gary Spencer and Tiffany Roberts. All are experienced in high-profile cases and are working for Eleby without charge.
Here is a look at the attorneys:
- Zimmerman was the attorney for Leanna Taylor, whose ex-husband Justin Ross Harris was convicted of murdering their 2-year-old son by leaving him in a hot car.
- Griggs, the vice president of the Atlanta NAACP, represented one of the former educators who was convicted in the massive Atlanta Public Schools cheating case.
- Davis is president of the Decatur NAACP chapter and has represented the families of victims in police shooting cases.
- Spencer represented a former DeKalb County official who pleaded guilty to taking a bribe in exchange for his vote approving a nightclub.
- Roberts has brought cases against the city alleging Atlanta police conducted improper pat downs and searches.
Eleby is scheduled to be in court next Tuesday.
The 39-year-old was indicted Friday on two felony charges — arson and criminal damage to property in the first degree. He is being held in the Fulton County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
Police said Eleby was using drugs under an elevated stretch of the interstate, just before I-85 southbound merges with Interstate 75. He allegedly set fire to a chair in a shopping cart which melted and then ignited high-density plastic conduit used for cabling and fiber optic wire networks that had been stored under the interstate and forgotten for years.
The I-85 collapse has thrown metro Atlanta into traffic gridlock expected to last until mid June. Officials say they will have the interstate repaired by June 15.
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