FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 10, 2024
Stop Cop City Activists Will Move to Suppress Evidence and Dismiss Their Charges in Fulton County Court Hearing Friday at 10am
Five Defendants Will Argue Pre-Trial Motions to Push Back Against Sweeping RICO Indictment of 61 Cop City Opponents
ATLANTA, GA – Lawyers for five #StopCopCity activists indicted on Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges will appear in Fulton County Superior Court on Friday to argue pre-trial motions to dismiss their charges and to suppress evidence defendants say was unlawfully obtained by the state. The five defendants include three organizers with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF), whose money laundering charges were dropped by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office on September 17. All five defendants are facing trial on RICO charges in the coming months and, if convicted, could be sentenced to years in prison.
The five RICO defendants are part of a massive 61-person indictment against #StopCopCity activists and organizers for their role in opposing the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, commonly known as “Cop City.” The Georgia Attorney General is using the state RICO law to criminalize otherwise lawful organizing activity by alleging a sweeping criminal conspiracy that the state has yet to prove.
What: Pre-trial motions hearing for five #StopCopCity activists charged under Georgia’s RICO law
When: Friday, October 11, 2024 at 10am
Where: Fulton County Superior Court, Courtroom 4E, 136 Pryor St. SW, Atlanta, GA
The three ASF organizers–Marlon Kautz, Adele MacLean, and Savannah Patterson–are moving to suppress evidence seized from a May 2023 police raid on their home and to address “intentionally and recklessly false statements in the search warrant application,” according to the motion to suppress. During last year’s raid, police seized laptops, cell phones, and various documents. All three organizers were charged with charity fraud and money laundering before being indicted on RICO charges. All money laundering charges were dropped last month, as announced in a statement from the ASF.
Another of the five defendants–Brooke Courtemanche–is moving to suppress evidence based on a violation of their Fourth Amendment right against unlawful search and seizure related to a phone that was unconstitutionally seized at the time of Courtemanche’s May 2022 arrest in the Weelaunee Forest, according to their motion to suppress. Courtemanche is also moving to dismiss their RICO charges based on lack of evidence and selective prosecution. Courtemanche argues that no direct evidence or documentation exists of their wrongdoing or criminal activity, according to the motion filed in July.
The fifth defendant, Sonali Gupta, is moving to suppress two separate categories of information: evidence stemming from an illegal detention, arrest, and search in July 2020, as well as evidence obtained from Google using a constitutionally deficient warrant, according to her motion to suppress.
Another RICO defendant–Ayla King–is currently awaiting a decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals on their motion to dismiss, based on a violation of speedy trial rights. In March, King appealed the denial of their motion to dismiss by Fulton County Judge Kimberly Adams from earlier this year. A decision from the Court of Appeals is expected to be issued at any time.
Over 170 people have been arrested so far in connection with Cop City in Atlanta, including more than 40 activists who were arrested but not yet indicted under Georgia’s Domestic Terrorism law. Construction of the facility is ongoing while the city stalls efforts to let Atlanta voters decide on its fate through an ongoing legal appeal. The city has also reimposed historically discriminatory qualification measures like signature matching to proactively inhibit the referendum process.
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For more information on the sweeping criminal case and ways to support the defendants and the movement to Stop Cop City, go to: weelauneethefree.org.
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