JAMES Magazine Online: Fulton County DA Suffers Two Legal Setbacks

Phil Kent

Thursday, December 5th, 2024

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It has been a bad week for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.  

The longest-running trial in Georgia history came to an end yesterday that involved two “Young Slime Life” (YSL) gang defendants charged with various racketeering counts including murder. The outcome: Jurors found defendant Deamonte Kendrick not guilty on all counts, and Shannon Stilwell was found not guilty on all counts except for possession of a firearm by convicted felon. 

Social media especially blew up, with many – including some of Georgia’s most prominent attorneys– decrying the waste of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money and incompetence by Willis’ prosecutors.  

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that “throughout the trial, attorneys for Kendrick and Stillwell sought to poke holes in the state’s case, introducing doubt wherever possible as they recapped the last 12 months of grueling testimony. They also accused prosecutors of calling unreliable witnesses, some of whom admitted to lying to investigators.” 

Obviously, it was a stunning defeat for Willis and her prosecutors.  

Willis violates the open records law 

Also this week, a Fulton County Superior Court judge ordered Willis to make public all communications she had with special prosecutor Jack Smith and the congressional January 6th committee regarding her election interference/racketeering case against President-elect Donald Trump.

The judge ruled Willis violated the state’s Open Records Law, saying: “The Court also hereby order defendant to conduct a diligent search of her records for responsive materials within five business days of the entry of this order. Within that same five-day period, defendant is ordered to provide plaintiff with copies of all responsive records that are not legally exempted or excepted from disclosure.” 

The open records case was brought by the constitutional law firm Judicial Watch and is another staggering loss for Willis. Legal observers say the Judicial Watch victory could bring further major legal trouble for Willis if more proof emerges that she coordinated with the Biden administration and its Justice Department to illegally target the former Republican president during his election campaign.