Former Atlanta Public Schools Educators All Out On Bond

All of the 35 had bonds.

WABE legal analyst Page Pate says arraignments come next.

“The court would set a time for Dr. Hall and the other individuals to come in and enter a formally not guilty plea to the charges.  The arraignment is normally just a formality, but it is an important time because that starts the clocking ticking for any pre-trial motions that the defense lawyers would want to file.”

But trying a case with all thirty-five defendants is going to be difficult to manage says Pate.

“No trial judge wants to have 35 people sitting there at a table and have the jury try to evaluate the evidence for all these different individuals separately as they are required to do.”

The judge could separate some of the defendants.

Or defense attorneys could ask the judge to do the same.

Fulton Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter will decide the order of trials, barring any type of plea deals.

But Pate says if all opt for a trial:

“It’s going to drag out. This is not a simple allegation, racketeering and even the false statement counts are not always easy to prove.”

Pate says it could take months just to sort out who goes to trial first.