Judge suspends warrant against Atlanta DA in dispute with deputy

<p>A judge Friday reversed course and suspended an arrest warrant he had issued a day earlier for Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.</p><p>Judge David Emerson said in his order that the warrant will be stayed until the investigation of Howard's run-in with a sheriff's deputy in a courtroom March 31 is completed or an indictment is issued, if one is, according to Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller.</p><p>Howard told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home that he was relieved by the action.</p><p>"I was shocked that a judge without calling the district attorney's office or my attorneys would grant an arrest warrant," Howard said.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Georgia attorney general appointed a replacement prosecutor Friday to oversee the felony assault case against Howard.</p><p>The prosecutor, Richmond County District Attorney Danny Craig, was en route to Atlanta from Augusta to take over the case, said Russ Willard, a spokesman for Attorney General Thurbert Baker.</p><p>Willard said his office has not asked law enforcement not to serve the arrest warrant against Howard that was issued Thursday. However, as of late Friday morning, Howard had not been taken into custody, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Department.</p><p>Craig told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he had asked the Attorney General's office to ask authorities not to arrest Howard until Craig has a chance to review the facts of the case.</p><p>"We want to gather the facts to determine what action to take, if any," Craig said.</p><p>Howard said Friday that he hopes the charges are ultimately dismissed.</p><p>"My hope is that he will investigate, he will look very carefully at what happened," Howard said of Craig. "I hope once that happens, attention ought to be turned to the folks that are doing this. It is mighty strange."</p><p>Howard left Augusta, where he was attending a meeting of the state's district attorneys, to return to Atlanta late Thursday night, Richmond County Sheriff Ronald Strength said.</p><p>Howard's attorney, former Gov. Roy Barnes, did not return several calls Friday seeking comment.</p><p>On Thursday, Barnes told the AP he would file an appeal Friday challenging the authority of a judge in Douglas County to issue an arrest warrant for Howard over an incident alleged to have occurred in Fulton County. No appeal was immediately filed Friday, according to the clerk's office at the Georgia Court of Appeals.</p><p>The charges stem from a dispute between Howard and a Fulton County sheriff's deputy inside a courtroom on March 31.</p><p>The deputy, Levoular McCray, says she was assaulted by Howard while she attempted to take him into custody at a judge's order.</p><p>Prosecutors and defense attorneys were questioning jurors about their decision to acquit an accused rapist. Judge T. Jackson Bedford ordered Howard to stay out of the debriefing. When Howard failed to comply, Bedford told deputies to take him into a detention cell adjoining the courtroom.</p><p>Howard allegedly resisted and while waving his arms, injured McCray's shoulder, according to incident reports. In the detention area, Howard allegedly pushed McCray against a wall as he tried to return to Bedford's courtroom.</p><p>Howard, who has been DA since 1997, has vigorously denied the accusations, and another judge had previously refused to issue an arrest warrant.</p><p>The warrant issued Thursday and stayed Friday included felony charges of aggravated battery and two counts of obstruction of an officer. The judge who issued it, David Emerson, told the AP he set bond at $30,000.</p><p>Howard, 54, is currently serving his third term as district attorney for the county that includes the city of Atlanta.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/4/125258