A new report published Tuesday reveals Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office has repeatedly failed to charge alleged criminals within a 90-day window from their arrest, forcing judges who previously denied them bail to renege and grant it, with at least 20 separate instances identified by 11 Alive.
Georgia law requires those who are arrested and refused bail to be formally indicted within 90 days, or else given bail, and 11 Alive claims court documents prove the county has failed to do this nearly two dozen times.
The report reveals at least 20 alleged criminals who were arrested in Fulton County and denied bail by a Fulton County judge, who may have considered them dangerous or a flight risk, were later granted bail and released by Fulton County Jail after being held for at least 90 days without being charged by Willis’ office.
The outlet specifically describes one individual who was denied bail on June 23, 2021, with the judge considering him a “flight risk” with a “risk of re-offending,” but the defendant spent 156 days in the facility without being indicted. Bail was then granted for the defendant. Willis’ office did not indict the defendant until 2023, and told the outlet that delayed crime lab results were to blame for the pause.
Former Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, a Democrat who lost his primary contest in 2020, told the outlet its findings indicate a “systemic problem” and worried that those released without charges will “go out and commit some heinous, horrible crime.”
The report came just one day after news broke that Republicans in the Georgia Senate filed an official ethics complaint against Willis with the new Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission.
In their complaint, the Senate Republicans claim Willis has “improperly cherry-picked cases to further her personal political agenda” and blamed Willis’ “selective prosecution” for the dangerous and overcrowded conditions at Fulton County Jail. “These consequences are unacceptable and detrimental to the state,” said the Republicans.
Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) said the complaint, which did not mention former President Donald Trump or any of the prominent Republicans indicted by Willis, is “just one of the tools at our disposal,” and vowed Republicans “won’t relent until she feels the consequences of her misplaced priorities.”
Ten detainees have died at Fulton County Jail so far this year, and the facility became a lightning rod issue for Georgia Republicans after Trump and others indicted by Willis were required to surrender at the controversial jail.
Last week, the Georgia Senate announced a new committee investigating Fulton County Jail’s severe overcrowding and dangerous conditions. Headed by State Senators John Albers (R-Alpharetta) and Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), that committee is expected to include at least one Democratic senator and follows the initiation of a federal Department of Justice probe into the facility.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
