Tamara Cotman Case Goes to Jury
Jury deliberations ended today with no verdict in the trial of former Atlanta Public Schools executive director Tamara Cotman.
She’s accused of influencing a witness while the state investigated cheating within the school system.
Earlier today, the prosecution and the defense made their closing arguments inside Fulton County Superior Court.
It was a glaring difference between the defense and the state during the closing arguments today, beginning with Tamara Cotman’s attorney Benjamin Davis.
He told the jury to focus on influencing a witness charge and nothing else.
Davis repeatedly said Cotman was not on trial for cheating.
As for the infamous “go to hell” memo meeting, which the state said Cotman encouraged educators not to speak with the GBI, Davis said:
The audio of the story as broadcast.
“In their own report, that they praised so highly, it says right there, ‘Cotman directed each principal to write letters to anyone for whom the principal felt animosity.’”
During the state’s closing argument, fired up district attorney Fani Willis told the jury they must hold Tamara Cotman accountable:
“She perpetrated a fraud on this community, and I want you to tell her … it was wrong to intimidate those principals. It was wrong to intimidate Kamina and Ms. McBride and [pounding the lectern to emphasize each word] yes-it-was-wrong-to-intimidate-Ms.-Hawkins.”
From Fulton County Superior Court, Rose Scott, WABE News.
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