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Who will prosecute 2 high-profile APD cases
New information came out in court on Friday about why the Fulton County District Attorney's Office believes it cannot move forward on two separate cases involving the Atlanta Police Department.
ATLANTA - A judge ruled the Fulton County District Attorney needs to prosecute the Rayshard Brooks case and the controversial arrests of two college students.
An attorney for Fulton County DA Fani Willis asked Magistrate Judge Todd Ashley to order the Georgia Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor on the Brooks case and the cases involving the arrest of a Morehouse College student and Spelman College student.
Willis has said all along her office cannot prosecute those cases.
FOX 5 News on Friday learned there may be a new reason for Willis' voluntary recusal. It is a reason that has not yet been revealed.
"Sometimes judges recuse because they can't reveal the information. And it would be inappropriate to reveal the information," attorney Jeff Davis proclaimed in court.
Attorney Davis said Willis finds herself in that same position.
Davis is the former executive director of the State Bar of Georgia. He and Fulton County counsel Kevin Armstrong told a magistrate judge Willis has confidential reasons why she and her office cannot prosecute those cases involving the Atlanta Police Department.
The new non-disclosed information was not included in the letters Willis sent to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. In those letters, Willis asked to be taken off the high-profile cases because of the conduct of former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.
"To say that there are other matters revealed that do implicate her conflict, she would ask the Attorney General to honor that and respect that and proceed with the appointment of other counsel," Davis remarked during Friday's hearing.
Willis has asked the Attorney General twice to recuse her from the two cases. Her attorney told the court, the AG has backed the DA into a corner.
"For the victims and for the defendant, it absolutely seems like a hot potato. The hot potato was created by an unprecedented step that has never been taken before in the state of Georgia and that step is a second-guessing of a district attorney's voluntary recusal. That has never happened before," Armstrong affirmed.
The judge said he did not have the authority to overrule Carr and ultimately ruled the cases will remain in Fulton County.
The judge suggested Willis might want to rewrite her letter to Carr to further explain this undisclosed new information.
FOX 5 reached out to Willis's office and they responded as follows:
"The District Attorney is committed to ensuring justice is served in every case, including this one. Our office will proceed as necessary to ensure that happens."
So, the stalemate continues.
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