ATLANTA — The Clayton County District Attorney’s Office has until April 2 to explain itself before the Georgia Supreme Court.
It is accused of citing cases that don’t exist during the appeals process of a murder case Channel 2’s Tom Jones has been covering for years here on Channel 2 Action News.
The district attorney responds to her office presenting fictional cases before the state’s highest court LIVE on Channel 2 Action News at 5:00 p.m.
At the end of the oral arguments of convicted murderer Hannah Payne’s case, asking the state Supreme Court to grant her a new trial, the chief justice dropped a bombshell.
“Before you sit down, one more thing I need to ask you about unfortunately,” said Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson.
He told Assistant District Attorney Deborah Leslie that he noticed something unusual when reviewing the Clayton County Superior Court’s motion denying Payne a new trial.
There were at least five citations to cases that do not exist.
Justice Peterson went on to say there’s at least five more questionable citations from the state, including citations that have 3 quotations that don’t exist.
He wanted to know if Leslie submitted the phantom cases.
“No, your honor. I do not believe so,” she said.
Payne was found guilty in the shooting death of Kenneth Herring in May 2019 after she saw him leaving the scene of a minor accident.
Prosecutors said Herring may have been having a medical episode at the time of the hit-and-run. After the crash, police said Payne followed Herring, confronted him and shot him.
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