Skip to main content
Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Aide of former Atlanta mayor wants new trial in records case

File-This Dec. 19, 2019, file photo shows Jenna Garland appearing in court in Atlanta. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP,File)
File-This Dec. 19, 2019, file photo shows Jenna Garland appearing in court in Atlanta. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP,File) File-This Dec. 19, 2019, file photo shows Jenna Garland appearing in court in Atlanta. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP,File)

ATLANTA (AP) – An ex-aide of former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has requested a new trial to appeal her conviction for violating the state’s open records laws.

Jenna Garland previously served as press secretary under Reed. She was convicted in December on two misdemeanor counts after she directed a subordinate to “drag out” a records request that a local TV station had made.

Garland’s attorneys filed a motion requesting a new trial last week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday.

Scott Grubman, one of Garland’s lawyers, called this “the first step in the appeals process.”

Her attorneys have argued that evidence did not support the verdict, that the court failed to properly instruct juries and that a motion for a mistrial was not granted.