Georgia accused of stopping defense lawyers visiting 'Cop City' protest site

Source: The Guardian

Georgia accused of stopping defense lawyers visiting ‘Cop City’ protest site

Dozens charged with conspiracy in South River Forest but court filing says state is obstructing attorney visits

Timothy Pratt
Mon 8 Jul 2024 11.00 BST
Last modified on Mon 8 Jul 2024 11.02 BST

The state of Georgia has dragged its feet for months on allowing defense attorneys to visit the forest where a criminal conspiracy allegedly operated in opposition to the “Cop City” police training center, according to a motion filed this week and the Guardian’s reporting.

In his motion filed in Fulton county superior court, attorney Xavier de Janon is seeking to dismiss all charges related to the South River Forest, located south-east of Atlanta – for his client and for dozens of others. The forest’s importance to the case is underlined by the fact that the indictment mentions the word, “forest”, 310 times in its 109 pages, according to the motion.

Since January, deputy attorney general John Fowler has failed to schedule a visit to the alleged “crime scene”, all while construction of the $109m training center has proceeded apace, according to the motion.

Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams ordered Fowler at a court conference in early May to schedule visits by the end of June, adding that the jury in an eventual trial may also need to visit the site. Fowler sent an email to the more than 70 attorneys involved in the case shortly thereafter – but never followed up to schedule visits, effectively ignoring the judge’s deadline.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/08/georgia-cop-city-defense-lawyers