MM: Ellis Found Guilty, 4th Events, and Georgia Summer Brews
Decatur Metro | July 2, 2015 | 9:10 am
- Fmr. DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis found guilty of attempted extortion, perjury [AJC]
- Guide to metro Atlanta Fourth of July 2015 fireworks [AJC]
- Recreation Centers Closed July 3-5, Pools and Glenlake Tennis Center Open [Be Active Decatur]
- No Decatur trash pick up on Friday [Decatur Minute]
- Summer Brews: Georgia’s beer world during the South’s sweatiest season [CL]
Photo courtesy of Decatur Active Living
Ellis- so disappointing.
He thought he was Teflon after watching his predecessor slide through for eight years.
He seemed so honest when he ran. I guess it was his glasses. Sometimes democracy doesn’t work well.
I hope they throw the book at him. Need to make an example out of him for everyone in the county “government.”
Ellis is the least corrupt of the DeKalb officials. He pocketed zero money. What he did showed naivety and poor judgment, but it was hardly criminal. You should look more closely at the case, rather then eating up what the DA and the media have presented to the public. The judge gave the prosecution carte blanche and limited the defense severely. In addition, the judge used to work in the DA’s office…they should have moved this case to another county for fairness. More heads are gonna roll here in DeKalb. Burrell Ellis should appeal and I believe his conviction could be overturned. Remember Don Geary? He said the DA illegally videotaped the suspects in the initial investigation. They wouldn’t let him testify this go-round.
jbgotcha, thanks for the summing up. I had missed the part about the judge having worked in the DA’s office, but I was definitely concerned over how manipulated things seemed to be this time around in favor of the prosecution. I’m heartsick over this verdict. Burrell Ellis should not be behind bars– or disbarred. He absolutely must appeal.
Of course he’ll appeal and all the supposed errors will be heard out then.
BTW, who’s paying all the high priced lawyers?
He did the crime, now he can do the time. I can’t believe he was receiving his full salary for the last two years for doing no work. The least he could have done was pick up cans or wash the county vehicles. Something to justify the $180K he was getting!
With conviction, I wonder if County can pursue claw back of that paid salary?
I doubt it. Innocent until proven guilty.
Uhhhh, but that’s what they just did – proved him guilty!
But not until now, so he is suspended until now.
Uh, no. They can seek to recoup all salary after the incidents he was indicted on.
I think that the law would govern what they can do and I’m not familiar with that piece of it.
Everyone saying, “Lock him up” and yet how many of you every practiced law??? If this conviction isn’t overturned on appeal I’ll e completely shocked. The judge and the DeKalb cronies basically made it impossible for Ellis to mount any sort of defense.
1) Ellis couldn’t organize a defense fund, so he had to pay everything out of pocket.
2) The judge wouldn’t allow former DA office attorneys to testify against the tactics used to create the case.
3) The judge allowed a witness to selectively record conversations w/ Ellis and then pass them off as if they were federal wire taped evidence.
I’ve been barred a LONG TIME and what Ellis did was at most an ethics violation that should have been handled by the bar association and/or some county entity. There was no financial enrichment. No loss of contracts for failure to donate. So after about probably $6-7 million in county costs to try the case, all you have is 1 count based on $2,500 and 3 perjury counts that we can’t even verify because half his most salient witnesses weren’t allowed to testify. Folks, that’s not justice. It’s REALLY hard to get witnesses struck from testifying and he had SEVERAL. That’s pretty rare given this type of case.
As an attorney, this is an embarrassing case and it shows why judges shouldn’t run for office, but be recommended by a judicial oversight panel. She wasn’t strong enough to handle a case of this profile and given the vast experience on the DeKalb bench I’m still in awe that it would have summarily fallen on her, one of the least experienced. This case was DA James’ coming out party and they wanted to make sure he won. He won, but the county and the DeKalb judiciary lost.
Interesting perspective and thanks to you and jbgotcha for giving a different perspective. I don’t have the savvy to judge this. But I was surprised when all this came out and am relieved that this wasn’t theft. I’m not happy about unethical but boy is that just about everywhere in every profession which is why professional standards are needed and should be enforced. What I most dislike is that this seems like purposeful unethical behavior vs. ignorance of the rules or law. However things turn out, I hope it’s a step in changing attitudes and behavior in DeKalb County government.