ATLANTA — The three highest ranking convicted Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial defendants will be resentenced, according to Judge Jerry Baxter's office.
The judge's officer told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne that Tamara Cotman, Sharon Davis-Williams and Michael Pitts will be resentenced on April 30.
Eleven of 12 former educators charged in the cheating case, accused of changing standardized test scores, were found guilty on Tuesday, April 14.
INTERACTIVE: The who's who of the APS trial
Ten of the 11 convicted educators were immediately taken to the Fulton County Jail.
The following day, all ten were released on an appeals bond.
Only one in the group spoke with Channel 2's Carl Willis on the way out of the jail.
"I'm blessed and highly favored," said former testing coordinator Donald Bullock.
Follow WSB-TV on Twitter and LIKE us on Face
On Tuesday, an attorney for one of the convicted defendants told Channel 2 Action News he hopes his client can also get a shot at resentencing.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne learned the Atlanta Redemption Academy phone line is now in service.
Winne went to Decatur Tuesday to talk to Keith Adams about his client's prospects. Winne said it appears they are not yet invited back to the table so to speak.
He talked to one of the defendants about what they called answered prayers.
“The judge can resentence them to something that's less but cannot sentence them to something that's worse than they’ve already been sentenced to,” Adams said.
Defendant Dana Evans says the APS defendants jailed prior to their release on appeal bond listed their blessings on papers she hung up in jail with toothpaste.
“We were sad and trying to find ways to feel grateful,” Evans said. “Right before they shackled us again, we all held hands and we prayed and we said, ‘Let's pray for Judge Baxter.’”
Evans said she and lawyer Bob Rubin have not decided whether to seek a resentencing, but that like the others, still maintains her innocence.
“I’m grateful that prayers do change things,” Evans said.
Keith Adams spoke of client Diane Buckner-Webb's sentence, including 5 years with one to serve in prison.
“I’m innocent of the charges against me,” she said.
“I would hope that we would have an opportunity to address the court in connection with a more appropriate sentence for Ms. Buckner-Webb,” Keith Adams said.
The Atlanta Redemption Academy hotline went online and the project described by prosecutor Fani Willis as a program to provide tutoring and more to current or former aps students affected by the cheating scandal.
Follow WSB-TV on Twitter and LIKE us on Facebook for the latest breaking news and weather updates.
WSBTV
