An Atlanta Prosecutor’s Contempt Conundrum

Source: mimesislaw.com --- Monday, May 02, 2016
May 2, 2016 (Mimesis Law) — Fulton County, Georgia Assistant District Attorney Vincent Faucette can’t be too happy at the moment. Usually prosecutors enjoy the support of judges and their respective police departments. Faucette’s casual attitude towards a discovery order in a murder case pissed off a Superior Court Judge. Now Faucette and the atlanta Police Department must deal with civil contempt sanctions , and the severity of those sanctions means Faucette probably won’t get an invite to any atlanta law enforcement dinner parties in the near future. [A] judge has found the APD and Assistant District Attorney Vincent Faucette … in contempt. She’s given the police and prosecutor two options: Pay $1,000 each in fines or come back within 30 days with a training procedure to avoid delaying justice again. “Justice” and court cases generally come with delays. Delays in criminal cases, however, mean someone’s either in jail or fretting over violating bond conditions. ADA Faucette’s delays meant Jamal Chandler sat in a jail cell on a murder charge while his attorney, Leah Abbasi, fought for information on a confidential informant. Faucette could have followed Judge Wendy Shoob’s January 13 th order requiring production of that information, but he chose to start by lying about the documents. After that didn’t work, his next move would be dangling a few scraps of information in front of Abbasi. The day before documents were due, accordin ...