Augusta, GA

I-TEAM: Augusta DA leads state in passing off cases, citing ‘conflict’

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2022

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Lots of of courtroom instances stay locked in limbo as a result of district attorneys throughout Georgia need another person to complete the job.

It’s common for there to be some conflicts of curiosity in authorized instances, however what our I-Workforce discovered fascinating was the variety of conflicts all of the sudden popping up. Extra particularly, the I-Workforce uncovered extra of them are popping up in Augusta than in every other a part of the state.

In 2021, Augusta District Legal professional Jared Williams despatched extra battle instances to the State Legal professional Normal’s Workplace than every other district legal professional within the state of Georgia, and the numbers are staggering. While you mix the highest 5 counties by inhabitants, you get virtually 4 million folks.

Their district attorneys and solicitors normal despatched in a mixed whole of 41 battle instances. By comparability, Richmond County’s inhabitants is barely 5 p.c of that, but the I-Workforce uncovered the Richmond County District Legal professional submitted DOUBLE the variety of instances than all those from Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Cobb, and Clayton Counties mixed.

Even earlier than he was sworn in, Jared Williams confirmed to the I-Workforce that he was planning to ship the case towards Richmond County Sheriff’s Workplace Deputy Brandon Keathley to the State Legal professional Normal’s Workplace due to a battle of curiosity.

I posted his assertion to my Fb web page on December 3, 2020.

Williams was formally sworn in as Augusta’s District Legal professional 25 days later. “I bought elected as a result of persons are prepared for change,” Williams informed Information 12.

It took Williams one other yr to ship the Keathley battle request letter, delaying the case even additional, however that’s not the one letter prefer it he despatched.

The State Legal professional Normal’s workplace confirmed the next to the I-Workforce: “The Augusta DA submitted greater than 800 pages value of 83 battle instances in 2021.”

The explanations he needed 83 instances off his plate and assigned to another person? We’re informed they have been all the exact same purpose he first informed the I-Workforce he had a battle with the Keathley case: he’s a member of the Hawk Regulation Agency who had attorneys on workers representing somebody concerned within the case.

We additionally discovered that 83 isn’t a traditional variety of battle instances from one district legal professional.

The I-Workforce uncovered Williams despatched probably the most battle instances within the state, even sending eight occasions extra instances than the brand new district legal professional in Atlanta. Right here is the checklist of the info the I-Workforce obtained from the State Legal professional Normal’s Workplace:

2021 District Legal professional Judicial Circuit/County Recusals

Jonathan Adams- Towaliga 2
Patsy Austin-Gatson- Gwinnett 2
Wright Barksdale- Ocmulgee 1
George Barnhill- Waycross 1
Sherry Boston- Stone Mountain 5
Flynn Broady- Cobb 6
Marie Broder- Griffin 4
Oliver Browning- Tallapoosa 12
George Christian- Mountain 1
Bobby Christine- Columbia 3
John (Herb) Cranford- Coweta 2
Lee Darragh- Northeastern 0
Tom Durden-Atlantic 4
Greg Edwards- Dougherty 5
Tripp Fitzner- Center 2
Craig Fraser- Dublin- 7
Don Geary (personal legal professional)- 14
Deborah Gonzalez- Western 5
Keith Higgins- Brunswick 72
Anita Howard- Macon 5
Alisha Johnson- Rockdale 0

Bryce Johnson- Tifton 0
Mark Jones- Chattahoochee 13
Shalena Cook dinner Jones- Japanese 5
William Kendall- Houston 2
Lewis Lamb- Southwestern 0
Jeff Langley- Enotah 0
Randy McGinley- Alcovy 2
Diane McLeod (personal legal professional)
Ronald Victor McNease- Pataula 0
Tasha Mosley- Clayton 1
Joe Mulholland- South Georgia 0
Samir Patel- Cherokee 42
Brian Patterson (personal legal professional)
Leigh Patterson- Rome 1
Darius Pattillo- Flint 1
Daniel Porter (personal legal professional)
Bert Poston- Conasauga 1
Dalia Racine- Douglas 4
Brad Rigby- Cordele 1
Matthey Rollins (performing DA)- Paulding 2
Bradfield Shealy- Southern 1
Brad Smith- Piedmont 1
Alison Sosebee- Appalachian 5
Liberty Stewart (personal legal professional)
Chase Studstill- Alapaha 8
Sheneka Terry (performing DA)- Chattahoochee 7
Daphne Totten- Ogeechee 0
Shannon Wallace- Blue Ridge 1
Jared Williams- Augusta 83
Fani Willis- Atlanta 8

Complete 342

Solicitor Normal County Recusals

Pamela Bettis- Henry 7

Gabriel Bradford- Jackson 3

Charles Brooks- Clayton 2

William Callaway- Evans 0

Kenneth Carswell Wayne- 0

Carroll Chisholm Athens-Clarke- 3

Sonya Compton- Douglas 5

Dalton Dowdy- Jefferson 0

Charles Ferenchick- Grady 1

Adam Ferrell- Pierce 1

William Finch- Forsyth 11

Matthew Franklin- Burke 10

Keith Gammage- Fulton 1

Don Geary (personal legal professional)

J. Skye Gess- Baldwin 1

Benjamin Harrell- Decatur 9

Todd Hayes- Cherokee 7

Mark Hendrix- Liberty 5

Sanford Hill- Chattooga 2

Jason Hoffman- Tift 0

Michael Howard- Washington 1

Rebecca Jackson- Carroll 1

Joseph Johnson- Ware 2

A. Mark Lee- Effingham 0

Omeeka Loggins- Richmond 3

Maria Lugue- Glynn 6

Barry Morgan- Cobb 1

J. Brown Moseley (personal legal professional)

Billy Nelson- Lengthy 0

William Oliver- Habersham 21

Katherine Paulk- Espresso 1

Ann Pickett- Stephens 19

Andrew Pope- Thomas 2

Patrick Shepherd- Spalding 2

Amy Smith- Houston 0

Donna Stribling- DeKalb 0

Sandra Taylor- Troup 0

Brian Whiteside- Gwinnett 13

Sandy Wisenbaker- Coweta 0

Stephanie Woodard- Corridor 4

Doug Woodruff- Catoosa 0

Complete 144

Complete 486

*14 battle instances initially assigned to Don Geary needed to be re-assigned in 2021.

Going ahead, Augusta District Legal professional Jared Williams received’t simply have the 83 battle instances off his plate. Columbia County was just lately break up from Richmond County’s Judicial Circuit. It now has its D.A. to prosecute its instances, drastically decreasing the variety of instances for which Williams was as soon as accountable.

The I-Workforce requested general numbers of battle instances from the final twenty years to get extra context for Williams’ battle caseload, and right here’s what we discovered.

Knowledge exhibits 2021 was a file yr for battle instances submitted to the State Legal professional Normal’s Workplace — by a protracted shot. The State Legal professional Normal’s Workplace obtained 486 of them. No different yr during the last 20 years even remotely comes shut. That 486 quantity greater than doubles, and even triples the variety of instances from earlier years. Here’s a checklist of these numbers:

2021 – 486, 2020 – 178, 2019 – 217, 2018 – 188, 2017 – 190, 2016 – 158, 2015 – 152, 2014 – 141, 2013 – 122, 2012 – 105, 2011 – 96, 2010 – 93, 2009 – 143, 2008 – 100, 2007 – 95, 2006 – 102, 2005 – 150, 2004 – 87, 2003 – 48, 2002 – 33,

Moreover, the Workplace of the Legal professional Normal informed the I-Workforce in an e mail:

“District Attorneys are free to say no our request to take a battle case for any purpose… It could actually be useful if a District Legal professional who submits 80-plus battle instances would then comply with tackle the prosecution of 80-plus battle instances submitted by different DAs, however that doesn’t occur.”

Thus far, “the Augusta D.A. has agreed to take three battle instances.” That’s proper. Simply three instances. Proper now, the task of battle instances falls underneath the state prosecution division. That’s the identical division liable for prosecuting human trafficking, white-collar crime, public corruption, and cybercrime.

The AG’s workplace tells the I-Workforce they’ve a single paralegal, so the Chief Prosecutor has helped by contacting district attorneys throughout the state to tackle these 486 instances, “time that sometimes would have been spent prosecuting instances that fall inside our prison jurisdiction.”

In different phrases, this site visitors jam is slowing instances down all around the state, and it impacts extra than simply battle instances. The I-Workforce reached out to DA Jared Williams and requested for him to sit down down with us about his submission of 83 instances. He declined our request by way of e mail, writing “Thanks for the provide, however I’m not serious about interviewing about this story. It’s been accomplished a number of occasions now. Have a terrific weekend! Heat Regards, Jared T. Williams.”

The I-Workforce responded that we had in contrast Williams’ recusals with all the state and located Williams recused probably the most variety of instances statewide. That’s one thing that has by no means beforehand been uncovered or reported.

Here’s what the I-Workforce informed Williams concerning the upcoming report and to present him each likelihood to reply and clarify: “For what it’s value, I don’t imagine this story has been accomplished. Battle instances, sure. However I obtained new knowledge with the variety of instances from every District Legal professional within the state, and it exhibits you’ve submitted greater than anybody else. Simply being clear and ensuring you have got a chance to reply should you select. Once more, thanks for the response and have a terrific weekend.”

Thus far, Williams has nonetheless declined to supply any clarification or reply any of our questions. The second-highest variety of battle instances in 2021 got here from the district legal professional in Brunswick. That’s the place the previous D.A. was arrested on costs associated to how she dealt with the Ahmaud Arbery case.

Voters elected a brand new district legal professional; he submitted 72 battle instances. He took workplace similtaneously Jared Williams. It’s vital to notice, that Fani Willis was elected in Atlanta on the identical time. She solely submitted 8 battle instances.

Within the meantime, each the Georgia State Home and Senate handed a invoice that may transfer the conflicting course of to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council. The I-Workforce has discovered that may be large in getting these instances assigned to prosecutors extra rapidly. Proper now, it’s sitting on Governor Brian Kemp’s desk, awaiting his signature.

The I-Workforce will probably be keeping track of it for you.

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Augusta, GA

3rd suspect arrested in November murder near Paine College

Published

6 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

3rd suspect arrested in November murder near Paine College

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A third suspect has been arrested in connection with the November shooting death of a 32-year-old on Verdery Street, according to authorities.

Myron Garnett, 32, of Verdery Street, was shot at least one time and pronounced dead at 9:43 p.m., according to Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen.

In March, authorities announced they were searching for Cameron Williams, 19.

On Thursday, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Marshal’s Southeast Fugitive Task Force arrested Williams on a grand jury arrest warrant.

MORE CSRA CRIME COVERAGE:

Williams is the third suspect connected to this case. In December, Anthony Williams, 20, was arrested and charged with murder, according to Richmond County jail records.

In November, Shakeichia Jackson, 30, was arrested and booked. She’s also charged with murder.

Anthony Williams, Shakeichia Jackson(Contributed)

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Augusta, GA

Ossoff to mark hospital, airport improvements in Augusta

Published

13 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

Ossoff to mark hospital, airport improvements in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is scheduled to be in Augusta on Friday.

The Democratic senator from Georgia will join Wellstar MCG Health in marking the delivery of two new MRI suites.

That’ll be at 9:30 in the morning.

Then at 11, he will join Augusta Regional Airport and community leaders for a ribbon-cutting celebrating the recent passenger terminal upgrades.

It comes as Ossoff and Sen. Raphael Warnock are announcing $3 million in funding for both the Augusta Regional and Daniel Field airports.

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Augusta, GA

AU president gives final State of the University address

Published

20 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

AU president gives final State of the University address

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – On Wednesday, Augusta University President Brooks Keel gave his final State of the University address.

Keel is retiring this summer.

In the address, Keel highlighted past and present accomplishments.

He mentioned things like the largest freshman class ever with 10,000 students, the Wellstar MCG Health partnership, the new statewide transfer program for cybersecurity degrees and the 35% increase in academic programs since 2015.

The university also seen a 32% increase in degrees awarded since 2015.

Keel says it’s not just his final State of the University address. It’s his best one yet because it’s the most they have ever accomplished.

It’s an address that is bittersweet.

“We are sad that Dr. Keel is leaving. He’s just such a nice guy. He has guided the ship through name changes, through difficult times. But the one thing that his legacy will be is that he has set us up for the future,” said Angel Lovett, director of parent and family engagement.

It’s also a time to celebrate everything they’ve added.

“The name change, the building of the math and science, getting us a new parking deck, the new dorms,” said Lovett.

Russell Keen, executive vice president for administration and chief of staff, said: “If you look at where we were in 2015 to where we are today, it’s a remarkably different institution with remarkable support from the campus and the community.”

At a time when enrollment is tough for lots of universities, AU saw an increase.

“The five years prior to him getting here, it decreased 3% every year. And so, if you look at where we are this year, we’ve increased 27% in our enrollment over the last nine years, which is huge,” said Keen.

Keel has just 46 days left at the university before his retirement. He says he is excited to continue to watch the university grow.

“Thank you all so much for what you do day in and day out to make this place. You have a lot to be proud of, because of these folks sitting to your left and your right. We look forward to following this place from afar and watching the great progress that you make. So, thank you so much, and one more time, Go Jags,” said Keel.

While talking about what’s in store for the university, Keel signed off saying the future is bright for Augusta University.

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