A Fulton County judge on Wednesday denied a motion by former Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall to throw out statements she gave to special investigators looking into the test-cheating scandal.
Hall had testified for two hours earlier in the day, saying she believed she would lose her job if she did not cooperate with the investigation, which included sitting down for interviews.
“There was no question in my mind, given the nature of this investigation, if I failed to cooperate in any way the board would exercise its right to terminate me,” Hall said.
Hall’s lawyer, Richard Deane, told Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter that prosecutors should not be allowed to use Hall’s statements against her. Deane argued that the statements were coerced because the former superintendent believed if she did not cooperate she would be terminated from her position.
But at the end of a lengthy hearing, Baxter, saying he was considering the case law and the testimony he’d just heard, denied the motion.
Hall was initially interviewed by investigators on Aug. 30, 2010, and later sat for a lengthy interview on May 18, 2011. She is among 34 defendants charged with racketeering in the test-cheating scandal. She is also accused of theft by taking, making false statements and false swearing.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Quinn had said prosecutors will be able to use Hall’s statements to try and prove she testified falsely under oath during the May 18, 2011, interview with investigators and to use the statements against her to try and prove she was part of a racketeering conspiracy.
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