APS defendants appeal judge’s ruling against them | www.myajc.com

A Fulton County judge stunned defense lawyers in the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating case last month when he denied a hotly contested pretrial motion that threatened the massive racketeering indictment.

It is now up to Georgia’s appellate courts to decide whether they want to review Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter’s rulings before the case against 35 former APS officials goes to trial. In recently filed pleadings, including one that harshly criticizes Baxter’s decision, lawyers for the APS defendants are asking Georgia’s highest courts to review and then overturn Baxter’s rulings.

One of Baxter’s findings was “a complete and utter farce” with “absolutely no logical foundation,” says a request filed by lawyers representing former Kennedy Middle School principal Lucious Brown and former Parks Middle School principal Christopher Waller. They filed their petition before the Georgia Court of Appeals, which has until mid-August to decide whether to hear the appeal.

Lawyers representing former APS Superintendent Beverly Hall are asking the Georgia Supreme Court to review two of Baxter’s pretrial rulings. The state Supreme Court has until late August to decide whether to hear her appeal.

If both courts decline to hear the appeals, the 65-count racketeering case will proceed toward trial, which Baxter has set for May 2014. During recent hearings, Fulton prosecutors strongly opposed the defendants’ challenges to the indictment.

The indictment accuses the 35 defendants of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy by cheating on federally mandated standardized tests. Other charges include false statements, false swearing, influencing witnesses and theft by taking.

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