An attorney for a former teacher in Lumpkin County plans to be in court Tuesday, asking to have battery charges dropped against his client.
Tim Garner was a teacher at Lumpkin County Alternative School when he and a 17-year-old student got into an altercation in the school lunchroom. Garner is accused of grabbing the student by the throat and dragging him down a table in the lunchroom on April 21, 2017.
Garner turned himself in to authorities in Lumpkin County last May.
WTVM-TV in Columbus and the Atlanta Journal Constitution are reporting that Garner's attorney claims his client acted in self defense against a violent student.
Garner, who had been a teacher and coach for the Lumpkin County School System, resigned from his job after the incident occurred.
Editor's note: AccessWDUN erroneously reported in the original story that the incident in question took place at Mountain Education Charter High School in Dahlonega. While the Lumpkin County Alternative School and MECHS were at one time located in the same facility, each entity operated at different hours. The two schools no longer share facilities. Additionally, Tim Garner was never an employee of MECHS, according to school officials.
