Douglas County bid-rigging trial: Jury finds defendants not guilty
Not guilty verdicts in bid-rigging trial
Jurors in the Douglas County bid rigging case involving suspended Chairwoman Romona Jackson Jones, Commissioner Henry Mitchell, and Tax Commissioner Greg Baker reached a verdict on Friday afternoon. The jury found all three officials, along with businessman Anthony Knight, not guilty on all counts. FOX 5's Eric Perry has the story.
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. - Jurors in the Douglas County bid rigging case involving suspended Chairwoman Romona Jackson Jones, Commissioner Henry Mitchell, and Tax Commissioner Greg Baker reached a verdict on Friday afternoon.
The jury found all three officials, along with businessman Anthony Knight, not guilty on all counts.
FOX 5 was there to talk with the four defendants charged in a Douglas County bid rigging scheme moments after they were found not guilty on all counts.
"It was nothing that the GBI could come up with. My mind was made up from the very beginning when I first came and the charges were first brought to my attention. That I was not guilty," Douglas County Commissioner Henry Mitchell said.
"We just have to put all of this behind us, and we have to work together as one county," Tax Commissioner Doug Baker said.
"I felt amazing because I was holding onto my bible the entire trial and I knew that god had this the entire way," Romona Jackson said.
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The State claimed Jackson Jones, Mitchell and Baker worked together in a bid rigging scheme to get S&A Express a contract for janitorial services with businessman Anthony knight. Who was also a co-defendant in the case.
"Fair and justice but all of my reputation has gone down the hill," Anthony Knight said. "It was great to see that they believed us and all the other stuff that was going on. They believed us. It was a great feeling."
"This was a hoax. They had nothing of what they wanted it to be. Not what reality," Henry Mitchell said.
This was a case that could have had major political implications as both Jackson Jones and Mitchell are up for re-election in November
"This changes the game and i believe voters will speak in November loud and clear because they know who I am now," Dr. Jackson Jones said.
State prosecutors did not want to comment.