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Fulton Co. to review hundreds of verdicts 'on a case-by-case basis'

By Liz Artz
By Liz Artz

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County may have to review the verdicts in hundreds of cases after a State Supreme Court decision today.

This comes after a defendant accused of killing a woman in 2012 argued that Fulton County unfairly picks its juries.

Otis Ricks Jr. is accused of shooting Vanessa Elaine Thrasher seven times in 2012 during an attempted robbery.

The incident allegedly occurred at the 53-year-old's Northwest Atlanta restaurant.

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Ricks has been awaiting trial after being arrested for the crime, along with three others. On Monday, his attorneys claimed a small victory in the case.

“The contractor has been making errors, according to the State Supreme Court, that’s caused 150,000 people not to be on the jury pool for service," said criminal defense attorney Manny Arora.

Arora is not part of the case, but he told Channel 2's Liz Artz that he's very familiar with a private vendor who he says Fulton County uses to select jury pools.

He said the vendor violates a 2011 statute, and Monday, the State Supreme Court agreed with Arora, claiming the way in which Fulton County creates a jury list violates the court's jury composition rule.

“It should affect almost every single case that requires a jury trial, because you're saying the jury is not being picked properly," Arora said.

Arora doesn't know how Monday's decision will impact cases that have already been tried, but Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said in a statement Monday: "With respect to all other cases, including the APS cheating scandal, these cases must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether any prejudicial mismanagement of the list occurred."

Ricks’ attorney, Emily Gilbert, also released a statement in regards to the court decision: “We are grateful that the Georgia Supreme Court today put an end to this practice. At this time, we are reviewing the lengthy opinion and determining our next steps on behalf of our clients.”

Arora says this will affect all jury trials moving forward. He said it would be costly and an undertaking to attempt to reverse convictions because of this opinion.

“Your original trial attorney could say they made a mistake by not challenging the process worked, therefore get a new trial. It would be civil remedy to criminal case, it would be very expensive and I’m not sure how successful it will be," Arora said.

Cox Media Group

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