In the same week a jury begins sifting through evidence in the Tonya Craft trial, including prosecutors' questions about the appropriateness of her trips to Las Vegas, the Children's Advocacy Center is planning a "Casino Night" fundraiser -- complete with a professional dealer and scantily-clad showgirls.
One local defense attorney and former prosecutor was shocked.
"Oh, my goodness. That's unbelievable," Lee Davis said. "Hypocrisy. It's wonderful, isn't it?"
Mr. Davis said he thinks the event shows "perhaps a judgment problem and certainly a timing problem in certain cases -- like the Craft case where the state is trying to taint (defendants) based on associations and personal practices."
Several social workers from the Child Advocacy Center interviewed the alleged victims in Ms. Craft's trial and testified in the trial over the past four weeks. According to testimony, none of the social workers is still employed at the center.
Herbert D. "Buzz" Franklin, district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, said he could not comment on the appearance of the fundraiser.
No one with either the Children's Advocacy Center of Georgia or the Child Advocacy Center of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit could be reached for comment Monday evening.
PDF: Casino NightAbout the fundraiser * Billed as "Casino Night, the Friday event is advertised as having "professional dealers" for blackjack tables, poker, roulette and craps.* It also will feature "showgirls."* Participants "must be 21 or older." Source: www.willowtreefarms.net/events
An Emory law professor and director of Emory's D. Abbott Turner Program in Ethics and Servant Leadership, Dr. Ed Queen, said he sees lots of ethical problems with the fundraiser and its timing.
"In terms of the issues related to the trial, it gives the impression of the pot calling the kettle black," he said. "How can you use such claims (against Ms. Craft), and then turn around and use it yourself?"
The $25-a-person event for persons "21 or older," is advertised as "Casino Night." Billings state there will be "professional dealers" for blackjack tables, poker, roulette and craps.
It also will feature "showgirls" and Elvis, according to the website of Willow Tree Farm where the event will be held. In the photo on the website, the showgirls are scantily clad in what would appear to be thongs.
Kristie Taylor, program director of an offshoot agency of the Children's Advocacy Center, the Lookout Mountain Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, said the fundraiser has nothing to do with the Craft trial.
"The fundraiser has been planned since last year. It's not like it's something new they've just come up with," she said.