DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia attorney general’s office says “all options are on the table” when it comes to making a last effort to obtain an indictment of a fired state investigator.
A DeKalb County grand jury refused to indict Josh Waites earlier this week and accused prosecutors of malice for their investigation.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Richard Belcher said prosecutors from the attorney general’s office presented their evidence to the DeKalb grand jury because DeKalb is the site of the headquarters of the State Revenue Department, Waites’ employer until he was fired two years ago for falsifying his education credentials.
That’s where prosecutors contend Waites’ alleged forgery and alleged lying on an official document took place. Waites headed the department’s Office of Special Investigations.
Even though the grand jury refused to indict Waites, Georgia law allows prosecutors to present their case to a grand jury a second and final time.
Waites’ attorney contends that alone would be evidence of the state’s malice.
“I cannot imagine any prosecutor pursuing a case where they were so soundly rebuked by the grand jury,” David Cooke, former Bibb County district attorney, told Belcher.
That rebuke was inscribed on the front of the two-count indictment prosecutors asked the grand jury to approve.
Instead, the jury stamped “NO” on the front of the document and added “Malicious Prosecution/Unanimous Verdict.”
Attorneys questioned by Channel 2 Action News say it is very rare for grand jurors to reject an indictment — but a shocker to a specific attack on prosecutors — in this case, the office of Attorney General Chris Carr.
“Getting a no bill in a case like this where the grand jury writes ‘malicious prosecution unanimous vote’ is unheard of,” Cooke said.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office has issued two statements firmly denying any malice in the Waites investigation.
But in a cryptic statement to Channel 2 Action News on Wednesday, the office promised to “review any irregular activity related to this process,” apparently referring to the grand jury process.
The attorney general’s spokesperson did not respond to two requests from Channel 2 Action News to explain the reference to “irregular activity.”
“The only irregularities that I saw were the AG’s over reliance on an unvetted report of the Office of Inspector General (OIG). It was clear from reviewing that report that it was instigated and framed by an attorney for criminals that Josh Waites had investigated and had arrested and was seeking to have prosecuted,” Waites’ attorney told Belcher.
The OIG initiated the Waites investigation in early 2020. Channel 2 Action News and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported the state probe in March that year.
The Revenue Department fired Waites after the two news organizations reported that Waites had misstated his education credentials on a state document.
The OIG completed and released its report last fall and sent it to the attorney general for review. The attorney general made the decision to seek an indictment against Waites.
Notified of the criticism of his office’s report, Inspector General Scott McAfee emailed Channel 2 Action News, “OIG stands by the findings of its administrative report, which was published in its entirety online. We invite any member of the public to review it and form their own unbiased conclusions.”
If the attorney general decides to take another run at Josh Waites, Cooke predicts prosecutors will never persuade a sufficient number of grand jury members to return an indictment, known legally as a “true bill.”
“I don’t think it’s too late for the AG’s office to redeem themselves,” Cooke said, seeming to taunt prosecutors with the remark.
If prosecutors do try again, they could present their case to a completely new set of 23 grand jurors in March.
A true bill requires the vote of 12 grand jurors.
Conviction in a serious criminal case requires a unanimous verdict from all 12 trial jurors.
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