Court reporter Evelyn Parker is reliving every moment — every single minute — of the nearly eight-month-long racketeering trial of 12 former Atlanta educators.
Still. A year later.
The court reporter can't get away from it. Not testimony that lasted too long. Not the lawyers quibbling like children. Not the angry outbursts of Judge Jerry Baxter, who from time to time would make pronouncements that ended with, "Right, Evelyn?"
“I’ve got such eye strain. But I’m certainly not behind,” said Parker, who is transcribing the testimony.
The transcripts are essential for appeals to be prepared by those who went to trial and were convicted in the cheating scandal that turned teachers into criminals. Nine of those convicted plan to appeal and are free on bond until the case is finally resolved. Two of the 11 convicted agreed not to appeal as part of a plea deal that took prison time off the table.
In the past year, Parker has transcribed about 12,583 pages. That's a little more than half of what was said during six weeks of jury selection (which began in August 2014) and many months of testimony about cheating on the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.
Still left to transcribe is testimony offered in 2015, from January, February and March until April, when 11 of the former educators were convicted and sentenced.
Parker said an “average” trial will take about a week to transcribe — two days for every day in court. That comes out to 500 to 800 pages for most trials.
The APS trial, however, was the longest in Georgia history.
“It could be a while,” said attorney Gerald Griggs, who represents former Dobbs Elementary School teacher Angela Williamson, who was sentenced to two years in prison for racketeering, making false statements and writings, and false swearing.
The cost of transcribing and copying will be borne by the taxpayers — $3.78 per page to transcribe an estimated 20,000 pages. Then another 35 cents per page, at a reduced rate, for copies of the transcript that will be provided to prosecutors and lawyers for the former educators who plan to appeal.
A year ago, on April 1, a Fulton County jury concluded that 11 of the 12 former Atlanta Public Schools teachers and administrators had conspired to cheat on standardized tests so the district would show dramatic improvements. Nine were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to three years, while two received probation because they accepted responsibility before Baxter announced their punishment.
“It’s going to be a good three years or so before we’re really dealing with the appeals portion of this,” said Keith Adams, one of two lawyers who defended former Dunbar Elementary School teacher Diane Buckner-Webb.
As they wait, life has moved on.
Adams and his partner in the trial, Kevin Franks, have decided not to stay with the case for the appeals.
Bob Rubin, who represented former Dobbs Elementary School principal Dana Evans, and Scott Smith, who represented Benteen Elementary School testing coordinator Theresia Copeland, also have decided they will not continue with the case — beyond filing a notice of appeal to stop the clock from running out on their former clients.
Several dozen APS teachers, principals and administrators were charged in 2013 with conspiring to change student answers on the CRCT. Two of them, including former Superintendent Beverly Hall, died before going to trial.
Twenty-one educators pleaded guilty to reduced charges, and all but two have finished their probation. And because they were sentenced under the Georgia First Offender Act, they are no longer “convicted” of any crimes.
It's over for them, this case that started after an analysis of CRCT results by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found unusual score changes at several Atlanta schools.
Two former educators who took last-minute plea deals after going to trial and being convicted have finished the toughest part of their punishment:
» Former Dunbar Elementary School teacher Pamela Cleveland was given a year of home confinement.
» Donald Bullock, who was a testing coordinator at B.E. Usher/Collier Heights Elementary School, spent every weekend for six months in the Fulton County Jail and is now working on his four years of probation.
They will not appeal, per their agreement with prosecutors.
The son born to former Dunbar Elementary School teacher Shani Robinson just days after she was convicted is celebrating his first birthday.
Angela Johnson, who represented Cleveland, moved to California to work with labor unions. She said she is done with criminal law.
And while Rubin is doing nothing more on Evans' appeal beyond filing a notice that she plans to challenge her conviction and sentence, he did represent her when she successfully argued to keep her teaching certification before the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
Others who pleaded guilty also kept their certifications, Rubin said.
“Life does go on,” Rubin said. “But I do tell people … I would do it again. It was an interesting experience on so many levels.”
