Lawyer: Escort bust could be in jeopardy after claims prostitutes illegally recorded

ATLANTA — An attorney representing three men, including a former Gwinnett prosecutor, accused of soliciting sex from escorts, said in court documents that the state illegally collected surveillance on dozens of men.

A DeKalb County grand jury indicted 61 people last month, including an Acworth couple accused of running an elaborate organization out of several rented apartments off Ashford-Dunwoody Road, one just feet from the former Dunwoody police station.

"We are paving the way to tell organizations: 'Not in our county,'" Sherry Boston exclusively told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik at the time. "It's not going to happen.'"

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Boston said Sam and Darliene Crenshaw ran “Gold Club” and “Lipstick and Shoes” escort services, recruiting women from the area to be models and escorts.

The indictment said the employment application asked for the women’s “body measurements and bra size,” among other questions.

It said the Crenshaws employed screeners who scheduled appointments for potential customers.

Their attorney, Rachel Kaufman, told Petchenik her clients are looking forward to being exonerated in court.

[ PHOTOS: 50+ indicted in suspected high-end escort ring (MUGSHOTS) ]

Boston confirmed to Petchenik that part of the investigation included using hidden video surveillance inside the apartments to identify the defendants.

“We believe that when we started this investigation, and we got the warrants signed off that we needed to get to do this type of surveillance, we believe we do so in a way that is completely within the Fourth Amendment. We feel strongly that evidence will be allowed into court,” she said.

Among those indicted is now-former Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Quinn, who resigned after the arrest. His attorney, Noah Pines, filed a motion this week seeking to suppress any evidence obtained by the video surveillance.

“Any warrant authorized by OCGA §16-11-64 requires disclosure to both the person(s) named in the warrant, and those whose conversations were intercepted, and since Mr. Franklin, Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Quinn never received any notice that they were secretly monitored or recorded,” Pines' motion said.  “There was an insufficient evidence showing that normal investigative procedures have been tried and failed or reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous.”

Pines' motion also said that under Georgia law, the district attorney at the time of the wiretap, Robert James, should have signed the warrants.

“The glaring one being that since 2013, Georgia law requires the District Attorney to be the one to file an application for a warrant pursuant to OCGA §16-11-64, which did not happen in this case,” the motion said. “However, neither the warrant application nor the warrant affidavit contains the signature of then acting District Attorney, Robert James. Instead, Dalia Racine, who is an Assistant District Attorney, is the person who signed the application and affidavit.”

James told Petchenik on Friday that he’s not ethically allowed to comment about any communication he had with another lawyer on a pending case.

Boston’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Channel 2 Legal Analyst Esther Panitch told Petchenik that if a judge agrees with Pines, the case is in jeopardy.

“It could be a very big problem for the prosecution,” she said.  “If those rules about getting warrants are not filed, and there’s no exception under the law, then the evidence that comes in as a result of that search can be thrown out.”

Cox Media Group