ELLIJAY, Ga. – A judge upheld the 4-year-old indictment of three former Calhoun High School students in a sexual battery case Friday, inching forward allegations that have barely moved since 2014.
Lawyers for Fields Benjamin Chapman, Andrew Isaac Haynes and Damon Avery Johnson argued in Gilmer County Superior Court that the district attorney and judge did not properly handle the indictment in August 2014. They said the court was not technically open to the public when the officials received the paperwork, and the charges should be thrown out.
On the day in question, the judge did not enter the room until 5:02 p.m., two minutes after the courthouse’s advertised closing time. Neither the Gilmer County sheriff nor any of his deputies were in the room, even though state law requires one of them to be there. The sheriff’s office’s policy also dictates that a deputy examine the room before opening it up to the general public, which did not happen in this case.
But Assistant District Attorney Steve Spencer argued Friday that the courtroom was, in fact, open. He said nobody blocked members of the public from entering. The doors to the courthouse and the courtroom were unlocked, and surveillance video showed nobody tried to walk in. Judge Albert Collier agreed, denying the defense’s motion to quash the indictment.
“Nobody has come in and said, ‘I wanted access to the courtroom, but I didn’t get a chance,'” Collier told the lawyers. ” There’s no one that was stopped by the deputies at the front door as they entered the courthouse. There’s no evidence there was an impediment.”