The GBI is investigating the wife of state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, on allegations she tried to undermine a murder trial by helping a key state witness leave the state, Fulton County prosecutors said Friday.
Matthew Mitchell, the son of Mary Brooks and the lawmaker's stepson, is charged with the Sept. 20, 2007, murder of Christopher "Noonie" Copeland, who was shot more than 70 times outside a club on Metropolitan Parkway.
Mitchell's former girlfriend, Veronica Watts, was scheduled to be a key state witness, but prosecutors could not find her at the start of trial this week. She materialized in court Friday and said that she had been hiding in Miami at a number of hotels using aliases. She testified that Mitchell had a friend drive her to Miami and that she paid for the hotels using $1,500 in cash that Mary Brooks had left for her.
GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Friday that his agency was asked by District Attorney Paul Howard "to assist in investigating a possible obstruction of justice."
Mary Brooks could not be reached for comment. Tyrone Brooks, when reached at his home, would not tell a reporter how to locate his wife. "I have no interest in this," he said. "I am not talking about this case."
Mitchell's lawyer, David Wolfe, said Friday that Watts' testimony cannot be believed. After Mitchell's arrest, Watts called him at the jail and their conversations were recorded. On Friday, Wolfe played one call during which Watts could be heard telling Mitchell that she had lied to police about him.
Mitchell is on trial with co-defendant Prentice McNeil on charges they shot and killed Copeland. Prosecutors say the killing was carried out as revenge for a home invasion of Mitchell's residence five days earlier by the International Robbing Crew.
Watts, a former stripper who is the mother of Mitchell's two children, became a key witness when she helped police locate one of the weapons used in the killing -- one of Mitchell's handguns that she had hidden for him. Mitchell dumped another one of the weapons in a trash can at a McDonald's, Watts testified.
After Mitchell was arrested in June 2009, he was granted bond. Watts testified Friday that Mary Brooks bought her a car and allowed them to live for free in a Lithonia home. Both Mitchell and his mother also began to suggest that she not testify at trial, Watts said.
Last month, Watts testified, Brooks left her a bank envelope with $1,500 in cash. Soon one of Mitchell's friends picked her up and drove her to Miami, where she booked into a number of hotels. Following Mitchell's instructions, she did not use her real name, she testified.
After hearing Mitchell's bond had recently been revoked, Watts said she hitched a ride to Augusta, where investigators picked her up and brought her to the courthouse on Thursday. She was interviewed until 3 a.m. Friday by prosecutors, investigators with the district attorney's office and GBI Agent Ben Haynes.
On the witness stand, Watts listened to the June 2009 phone call in which she told Mitchell she had been forced to lie about him to police. On that occasion, she said, she was lying to him. "I don't want to get hurt," she testified.
Staff writer Steve Visser contributed to this article.
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