From his modest office in downtown Covington, attorney Mario Ninfo said he believes he knows why Newton County Sheriff's deputies praised his clients on Thursday but arrested them Monday for holding a retired Stone Mountain couple they mistook for thieves at gunpoint.
"Don Samuel happened," said Ninfo, referring to the renowned defense lawyer who is representing Jean-Joseph Kalonji, 61, and his 57-year-old wife, Angelica, as a favor to their son, Bruno, once a soccer coach to Samuel's son.
Samuel's high-profile client roster has included rapper T.I., Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Jim Williams, the Savannah antiques dealer whose murder trial was chronicled in the book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."
The Atlanta attorney's newest clients were arrested last Thursday and charged with loitering and prowling after their neighbors called 911 to report a break-in at the rural Covington home just purchased by the Kalonjis' son.
The Kalonjis were there to change the locks on the door but, because they could not produce documents proving ownership of the house, they were treated as thieves -- first by the father and son next door, Robert and Branden Canoles, then by sheriff's deputies.
Charges were dropped Monday after the Kalonjis, accompanied by Samuel, met with Newton County's district attorney and sheriff.
Hours later, much more serious charges -- aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal trespass -- were brought against Robert Canoles, a 45-year-old U.S. Army veteran, and his 18-year-old son. They were released from jail Tuesday night after posting bonds of $8,450 each.
"As soon as Don Samuel shows up, everything changes," Ninfo, who is now representing the Canoles, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday.
Samuel told the AJC Monday the sheriff's office and D.A. realized they had arrested the wrong people after hearing the Kalonjis' account of what happened four nights earlier.
“They just spontaneously arrested him, arrested his wife, threw them in jail, made no phone calls, made no effort to verify the truthfulness of what they were saying and told the people with the guns in essence, ‘Thank you for your good service,’” Samuel said.
After Monday's meeting with county authorities, Samuel told reporters the Kalonjis were given assurances their new neighbors would be charged.
Robert Canoles didn't see it coming, however. Hours before his arrest, he told an AJC reporter he was not concerned that deputies had asked him to come to the Sheriff's Office to answer additional questions. He said he had been cleared of any wrongdoing last Friday.
Newton sheriff's spokesman Mark Mitchell later said Canoles was mistaken in making that assumption.
Canoles declined to be interviewed late Wednesday morning, roughly 12 hours after his release from jail.
"He's devastated. He's scared," Ninfo said. "They're facing serious jail time even though there was no criminal intent whatsoever."
Ninfo told the AJC his clients are being made scapegoats by the same sheriff's department that Thursday night praised them as responsible citizens. Five deputies arrived on the scene and, apparently, none believed the Kalonjis.
"Nothing changed from Friday," he said.
The Kalonjis were released from jail early Friday morning; they never were interviewed by deputies while in custody. After meeting with them Monday, Newton County District Attorney Layla Zon said it was "appropriate" that charges against the Kalonjis were dropped.
Ninfo said he wants the same thing for his clients but notes that's unlikely due to the attention generated by the case.
He disputed the Kalonjis' account that their neighbors threatened to shoot them, adding the AR-15's used by Robert and Branden Canoles weren't loaded. The rifles have been confiscated by law enforcement, Ninfo said.
"[The Canoles] were trying to thwart a crime, not commit one," the attorney said. "If anyone deserves an apology, it's them."
Newton sheriff's officials weren't saying much Wednesday, citing an ongoing investigation.
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