Is DA's case against APS educators collapsing? | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

Is DA's case against APS educators collapsing? | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

Get Schooled: Is DA's case against APS educators collapsing?

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KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC

Former Atlanta schools Superintendent Beverly Hall was the leader of a corrupt organization that used students’ test scores to earn bonuses if they rose, or intimidation and termination if they fell, according to a 65-count indictment returned March 29, 2013.

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By Maureen Downey

The Fulton District Attorney's case against former APS school chief Beverly Hall and 34 other Atlanta educators implicated in the cheating scandal seems to be falling apart.

The AJC reports that Fulton Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter is concerned that the defendants gave coerced statements when interviewed by investigators, which, if true, could undermine the 65-count indictment.

According to the AJC:

If Baxter finds defendants gave compelled statements to the governor’s special investigators or to GBI agents, Fulton prosecutors will then have to prove that they did not use the statements when preparing their case or presenting it to the grand jury.

This determination would require a lengthy quasi trial before the trial, with prosecutors having to put up evidence to show they obtained the indictment independently of any compelled statements given by APS witnesses. They would also have to show that none of their witnesses that they expected to testify at trial read any of the compelled statements.

“It’s an insurmountable burden for the prosecution to show no use was made whatsoever of all this improperly obtained evidence,” said Atlanta attorney Don Samuel, who represents former Parks Middle School principal 

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