Breakdown: Recent Episodes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
True crime investigations from The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Veteran legal affairs journalist Bill Rankin takes you inside the courtroom to break down the story and the criminal justice system. This award-winning series investigates Georgia’s most important cases with fact-based reporting. Learn more at ajc.com/breakdown.
The latest episode of Breakdown’s current season by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contains an exclusive interview with the lawyers for Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 19 defendants charged in the Fulton County racketeering case.
Atlanta attorneys Scott Grubman and Manny Arora make state their case as to why they believe charges should not have been brought against their client. Chesebro, a lawyer, has been described as the architect for the slates of alternate electors who cast Electoral College votes for then-President Donald Trump on Dec. 14, 2020.
“The Architect” of Breakdown’s Season 10 – “The Trump Indictment” – also includes coverage of a press conference by Gov. Brian Kemp and his thoughts about proposals to reprimand District Attorney Fani Willis for obtaining the indictment against Trump and his allies.
You can follow the Breakdown podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The sixth episode of Breakdown’s current season by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recaps former chief of staff Mark Meadows’ attempt to transfer the sweeping racketeering case to U.S. District Court in Atlanta. During a daylong hearing, Meadows was the first witness called to the stand. He testified for four hours, including a lengthy cross-examination by special Fulton County prosecutor Anna Cross. “Meadows’ Gambit” of Breakdown’s Season 10 – “The Trump Indictment” – also recounts the strange saga of defendant Harrison Floyd, head of the political group Black Voices for Trump during the 2020 election. Follow Breakdown on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The latest episode of Breakdown from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recaps former President Donald Trump’s historic surrender at the Fulton County jail.
“Trump Surrenders” of Breakdown’s Season 10 – “The Trump Indictment” – also recounts a flurry of breaking news in just the past few days: the spectacle of Rudy Giuliani’s surrender, Trump gets a new lawyer, a speedy trial demand is made and District Attorney Fani Willis proposes a new trial date for October.
You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The fourth episode of this season’s Breakdown podcast by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recounts a busy week where lawyers met with prosecutors to get bonds for their clients, including a $200,000 bond for former President Donald Trump.
“Show Time at Rice Street” of Breakdown’s Season 10 – “The Trump Indictment” – also covers one of the 19 defendants charged in the racketeering case after another surrendering at the Fulton County jail on Rice Street.
The episode also includes a roundtable discussion with two Breakdown regulars – former Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter and New York attorney Nick Akerman who is a former federal prosecutor who successfully used racketeering indictments against crime families.
You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The third episode of this season’s Breakdown podcast by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examines the chaotic aftermath of the sweeping racketeering indictment against former President Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants. AJC journalists Bill Rankin, Tamar Hallerman, and Shannon McCaffrey explore one attempt — and at least two others that are expected — to move the case from Fulton Superior Court to the U.S. District Court just a few blocks away. The episode includes reactions from three of the special purpose grand jurors who heard from almost 75 witnesses, recommended charges and collected evidence that was used as the foundation of the racketeering indictment. And it introduces listeners to the 34-year-old judge who was randomly assigned the case. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
At the end of a very long day, a Fulton County grand jury returned a 97-page, 41-count indictment against former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies. Episode 2 – “The Enterprise” – of Season 10 – “The Trump Indictment” of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast takes a look at the sweeping racketeering indictment and who is charged. Some of the defendants are extremely well known, such as a former mayor of New York and a former White House chief of staff. But a few others – such as an Atlanta bail bondsman and a Republican strategist – were not on most legal experts’ radar. This Breakdown episode also looks ahead at what is to come – the surrender of Trump and his 18 co-defendants to Fulton County authorities in the days ahead and possible legal strategies that will come into play. Follow the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The first episode of the new season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast will catch listeners up on how Fulton County prosecutors have accumulated evidence against Donald Trump and his allies. ‘How We Got Here’ of Breakdown’s Season 10 – ‘The Trump Indictment’ – also looks ahead as to what kind of indictment a seated grand jury could hand up in the days ahead. It is widely expected that District Attorney Fani Willis will ask the panel to issue a racketeering indictment against Trump and others for alleged criminal interference with the 2020 presidential election. All signs point to charges being brought very soon. Orange barricades have been installed around the Fulton courthouse. Intersections have been blocked off. And local officials have been warned to get ready. Follow the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The barricades around the Fulton County courthouse are up. Intersections are blocked off and officials in Atlanta have been warned to get ready. For more than a year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and its award-winning podcast Breakdown closely followed the special grand jury that accumulated evidence against former president Donald Trump and his allies for what happened in Georgia follow the 2020 election. Breakdown will turn a new page on Wednesday when we release the premiere episode of Season 10: The Trump Indictment, which will focus on the criminal case. Any day now, we are expecting a racketeering indictment against the former president, who is leading all of his GOP contenders in race for the 2024 nomination. Overseeing the case is Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. She is an experienced prosecutor who used the state’s racketeering law to convict teachers and educators in one of the most widespread test-cheating scandals in U.S. history. She has also recruited one of the country’s top experts on RICO to join her office and who will almost certainly draft the Trump indictment. Very soon we expect to see Willis’ version of events. So to hear our in-depth report of this historic case, please follow Breakdown on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the final episode of this season’s “Breakdown” podcast by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman examine the recent federal indictment against former President Donald Trump in Washington and look ahead to what is about to happen in Fulton County.
Episode 31 notes how much of what the podcast previously reported as to what happened in Georgia after the 2020 presidential election is part of the indictment obtained by special counsel Jack Smith.
And the episode explains how the upcoming indictment in Fulton could be, in the long run, more consequential than the classified documents case in South Florida and the election interference case in Washington. That’s because if Trump is convicted in one or both of them, he could try to pardon himself if he is reelected to the presidency or he could be pardoned if another GOP contender is voted into the White House. That would not apply to the case being brought in Georgia.
You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The latest Breakdown episode catches listeners up on developments since former President Donald Trump was indicted in Miami in the classified documents case.
A day after that indictment was unsealed, Trump returned to Georgia to address a gathering of the state Republican Party. He used the occasion to insult Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and repeat his false claims about the 2020 presidential election.
A few days later, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued a challenge to the former president, suggesting they have a debate about what really occurred in Georgia.
Episode 30, “We’re Still Waiting,” of Breakdown’s Season 9, “The Trump Grand Jury,” explores disclosures involving data firms the Trump campaign hired after the 2020 election and the slate of “alternate” Georgia GOP electors who cast Electoral College votes for Trump.
The episode also provides a final update on Breakdown’s popular Season 2, “Death in a Hot Car – Mistake or Murder?” That is the sensational case where Justin Ross Harris left his 22-month-old son Cooper to die in his hot SUV.
You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney says his oversight of the special purpose grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies has been "quite a ride." Episode 19 of the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Breakdown podcast includes an interview with McBurney, who has now been a judge for 10 years. The AJC's metro columnist, Bill Torpy, interviewed McBurney because it has seemed the judge is the busiest member of Georgia's judiciary. McBurney ruled on the challenge to Georgia's abortion law; he presides over a state judicial watchdog panel; he oversees a drug court program; and he is the trial judge in the murder case against Tex McIver, the former Atlanta lawyer charged with killing his wife, Diane. The latest episode of "The Trump Grand Jury" also includes interviews with two authors of a Brookings Institute report on the Trump investigation. And it covers a hearing for Trump's former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, who has been summoned to testify here in Atlanta. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In an email sent Dec. 31, 2020, attorney John Eastman shared a thought with fellow members of then-President Donald Trump’s legal team. “I have no doubt that an aggressive DA or U.S. Attorney some place will go after both the president and his lawyers once the dust settles on this,” Eastman wrote. Eastman, a former law school dean, was one of the architects behind the fake elector scheme and he authored legal memos detailing a plan in which Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to count some of President Joe Biden’s votes. As for his email, Eastman turned out to be right. He, the former president and other members of the legal team now find themselves under investigation by a Fulton County special purpose grand jury. Episode 18 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast explores the possible ramifications of emails exchanged between Eastman and other Trump lawyers. The emails were turned over to the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and obtained by the news organization Politico. The ninth season of Breakdown – “The Trump Grand Jury” – is closely following the special purpose grand jury probe of possible interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Episode 18 also covers the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision involving South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s attempt to avoid testifying before the special grand jury. And it explains what happened in a Virginia courtroom where former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also sought to avoid traveling to Atlanta to testify. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Could testimony from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack help Fulton prosecutors prove criminal intent?
The 17th episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's podcast "Breakdown — The Trump Grand Jury" looks at the testimony from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Could any of the revelations help Fulton County prosecutors prove criminal intent in regards to former Donald Trump's interference with the 2020 elections in Georgia?
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol produced hours of spellbinding television and its share of shocking revelations.
Legal experts say it has also presented testimony that could help Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, should she decide to press charges against former President Donald Trump and his allies for interfering with the 2020 elections.
Episode 17 - "What Trump Knew", Breakdown explores some of the testimony from the Select Committee hearings and explains why it could help prosecutors prove criminal intent.
Key witnesses have been former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr; former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson; former acting U.S. deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue; Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Alyssa Fara, former White House director of strategic communications.
This season, "The Trump Grand Jury," is closely following the special purpose grand jury in Fulton County that is investigating what happened in Georgia in the weeks following the 2020 presidential election. Breakdown's latest episode also takes listeners into a South Carolina courtroom where Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, tried to ward off an out-of-state material witness subpoena seeking his testimony before the special grand jury in Atlanta.
You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When 16 Georgia Republicans met at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, they cast Electoral College votes for Donald Trump, who had not won the state’s presidential election. The 16th episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast – “The Trump Grand Jury” — revisits what happened that day and the consequences going forward. The false electors cast their votes the same day 16 Democrats, the official Electoral College electors, publicly cast votes for the man who’d been certified as the victor: President Joe Biden. Fulton County prosecutors heading the special purpose grand jury investigation of former president Trump and his allies have notified the 16 fake electors that they are targets of the probe. This means they could be criminally charged for what they did. In the episode “The Fake Electors,” Breakdown hears from three reporters — the AJC’s Greg Bluestein, Channel 2 Action News’ Richard Elliot and independent journalist George Chidi — who stumbled across the GOP meeting where the GOP “electors” cast votes that were later sent to Congress and the National Archives. The podcast also interviews legal experts who are closely following the case and who give their takes on what occurred. Among those members of the phony slate of Republican electors trying to overturn Biden’s victory was state Sen. Burt Jones, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor. This summer, Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney handed Jones a victory by disqualifying the Fulton DA’s office from further investigating him because District Attorney Fani Willis hosted a fundraiser for Jones’ opponent, Democrat Charlie Bailey. But Jones is not in the clear yet. The Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia now has jurisdiction and could appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Jones. This means Jones, who is leading in the polls in the race for lieutenant governor, could face a possible indictment. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The latest episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast focuses on new out-of-state material witness subpoenas issued by the Fulton County special purpose grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies. The most notable to receive them are former national security advisor Michael Flynn and former Georgia congressman and House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Also on the list are one of Trump’s former senior advisors, a cyber investigations consultant and a police chaplain from Illinois. The special purpose grand jury, which convened in May, is investigating alleged interference with the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Gingrich has been an election denier since shortly after the 2020 election as evidenced by an interview he gave to Fox News. Democrats stole “five or six states,” Gingrich said. “In Fulton County, Georgia, we believe these people are thieves. We believe the machines are corrupt.” Gingrich’s subpoena says he was involved with the Trump campaign in a plan to air TV ads that “repeated and relied upon false claims about fraud in the 2020 election” and which encouraged viewers “to contact their state officials and pressure them to challenge and overturn the results of the election.” In November 2020, Trump pardoned Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to giving false statements to the FBI during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Just weeks later, Flynn appeared on Newsmax and said Trump won the 2020 election. Flynn also said Trump “could take military capabilities and he could place them in states and basically rerun an election in each of those states.” You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The latest episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast explores court filings that suggest a criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies has reached a new, more sensitive stage. The bonus episode also includes podcast hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman interviewing the AJC’s metro columnist, Bill Torpy, and the newspaper’s political columnist, Patricia Murphy. They both have been keeping up with the special purpose grand jury investigation and give some interesting observations on what has happened so far and what may happen in the coming months. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act has been on the books for more than half a century, and Georgia’s version was enacted in 1980. The 13th episode of Season Nine of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast — “The Trump Grand Jury” — takes a deep look at RICO. The episode traces its origin as a prosecutorial weapon to take Mafia dons off the streets. It also looks at how RICO has been used in recent years against schoolteachers, a metro Atlanta sheriff and street gangs. Legal experts following the Fulton County special purpose grand jury investigation into what happened here after the 2020 presidential election say that racketeering charges could ultimately be brought in this case. Episode 13 — “Who’s Rico?” — also looks at a key member of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s legal team: Don McGahn. McGahn is one of three lawyers hired by Graham who contends the U.S. Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause protects him from having to honor his out-of-state material witness subpoena and testify before the special grand jury. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The latest episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast takes a close look at the data breach at the Coffee County elections office which occurred one day after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Podcast hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman interview Mark Niesse, the AJC’s elections and voting rights expert. Niesse has covered the wild developments surrounding the Coffee County data breach on Jan. 7, 2021, since news of it first surfaced. He explains how it happened, why news of it first came to light this past May and why state elections officials should be alarmed. The Fulton County special purpose grand jury, which is investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies, has issued subpoenas to Sidney Powell and the data firm SullivanStrickler. Powell, who was once a lawyer for the Trump campaign, oversaw the breach and hired the data firm. Niesse, who was at the Cobb County audit of absentee ballots, also recalls the unusual and sudden visit by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Meadows was told he could not go inside to see what was going on. And Niesse also discusses the state legislative hearings he covered in December 2020 when Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani testified and presented now-debunked evidence of voter fraud. Separately, the 12th episode of “The Trump Grand Jury” also explains why the Fulton special grand jury may be interested in hearing from former Georgia congressman and House Speaker Newt Gingrich. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Will Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis subpoena former President Donald Trump before the special purpose grand jury? So far, Willis has sent out-of-state witness subpoenas to Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows; close ally Lindsey Graham, the U.S. senator from South Carolina; and his inner circle of lawyers who tried to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Episode 11 of “The Trump Grand Jury” includes interviews of criminal defense lawyers, law professors and former prosecutors who weigh the pros and cons of trying to compel the former president to come to Atlanta and testify. Since convening in May, the special purpose grand jury has heard testimony from more than 30 witnesses in its investigation of what happened in Georgia in the weeks and months after the 2020 presidential election. In light of recent public comments made by Trump, Episode 11 also revisits another hotly disputed presidential election: the 2000 contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore. This race, like the 2020 election, was decided long after election night and only after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Bush v. Gore. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Fulton County special purpose grand jury investigation is closing in on former President Donald Trump. Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff and close advisor, has been served an out-of-state witness subpoena to appear before the grand jury. The 10th episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, explores the ramifications of Meadows’ subpoena. The special purpose grand jury has been meeting since May to investigate Trump and his allies over what happened in Georgia in the months following the 2020 presidential election. Others, including lawyer Sidney Powell, who briefly represented the Trump campaign, have also been served out-of-state subpoenas. All the while, District Attorney Fani Willis continues her string of courtroom victories against witnesses who have tried to assert privileges and immunities as a way of not appearing before the 23-person special purpose grand jury. Episode 10 covers a court hearing pitting lawyers for Gov. Brian Kemp against Fulton prosecutors as well as Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney’s cleverly written ruling that is issued just a few days later. The episode also covers developments in the subpoenas issued to Trump’s inner circle of attorneys and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AJC journalists Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman focus on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's grand jury appearance and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham's attempts to avoid his testimony by the Fulton County special purpose grand jury of former President Donald Trump and his allies for what happened in Georgia after the 2020 presidential election. Giuliani, who has been Trump's personal lawyer, showed up at the Fulton courthouse to testify before the grand jury after his lawyers had tried unsuccessfully to postpone it. Graham, who placed two phone calls to the Secretary of State's office in the weeks after the election, was scheduled to testify before the special grand jury on Tuesday. But the federal appeals court in Atlanta - the fifth court so far to be involved in Graham's case - stepped in two days before the South Carolina senator was to appear and delayed his appearance. Rankin and Hallerman also cover the dustup between Gov. Brian Kemp and the Fulton District Attorney's Office and decisions by judges in Colorado and New Mexico ordering two other lawyers who represented the Trump campaign to come to Atlanta and testify before the grand jury. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Former President Donald Trump has assembled a legal team to defend him before the Fulton County special purpose grand jury that is investigating possible meddling that occurred in Georgia after the 2020 presidential election. The eighth episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast, introduces listeners to Trump’s new attorneys. Atlanta lawyer Drew Findling is nationally known for representing hip-hop superstars and, in the past, has been a strong critic of the former president. Jennifer Little is a former prosecutor who has helped targets of criminal probes get out of jams. And Decatur lawyer Dwight Thomas is considered to be an expert on special purpose grand juries, having represented clients before three of them. The episode also covers former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s attempt to delay his testimony before the Fulton grand jury. And it notes that Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, learns he is a target of the investigation. There is also a court battle waged by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to quash his material witness subpoena. His lawyers, including former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn, appeared in Atlanta before U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May to argue the senator’s case. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The public release of the recording of the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call from then-President Donald Trump to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was the impetus for what is now an ongoing special purpose grand jury investigation. Raffensperger and a top aide, Gabe Sterling, sit for an interview and talk about the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath. During the phone call, Raffensperger disagreed with Trump’s assertions that he had won Georgia by hundreds of thousands of votes, not lost the election by 11,779 votes. And even though Trump alternately pleaded, insulted and threatened Raffensperger, the secretary held firm. The episode also examines a surprise ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney that bars District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from calling lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones before the grand jury or considering him to be a target of the investigation. Jones was one of 16 alternative electors who cast votes for Trump during a meeting in the state Capitol. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
One sitting president was placed under arrest for speeding. Two former presidents came extremely close to being indicted, one from an investigation arising from the Watergate scandal, the other from the Whitewater controversy. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporters Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman examine past criminal cases involving presidents and vice presidents. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is overseeing the special purpose grand jury investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies for what happened here following the 2020 presidential election. But she does not have much of a playbook to follow because no president or former president has ever been indicted. The episode also recaps a busy week of developments in the grand jury investigation. This includes the outcomes of subpoenas being issued to Trump’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The fifth episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, recaps a busy period for the special purpose grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies. There are a flurry of witnesses coming in to testify about what happened at the state Capitol in the weeks after the November 2020 presidential election. There is a courtroom scuffle over legislative immunity. And there is the issuance of seven out-of-state material witness subpoenas that penetrate former president Trump’s inner circle. Recipients of the subpoenas include attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Cleta Mitchell. Also on the receiving end was U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. In an interview with Breakdown, District Attorney Fani Willis said the pushback was expected. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The fourth episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, focuses on criminal intent as part of the podcast’s continuing coverage of the Fulton County special purpose grand jury that is investigating what Donald Trump and his allies did in Georgia following the 2020 president election. If a criminal indictment is ultimately brought, prosecutors must show criminal intent – that Trump and others knew what they were doing was illegal and that they meant to break Georgia law. During a phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, Trump said he needed to “find 11,780 votes.” That was exactly how many he needed to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia. Trump also told Raffensperger “there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you’ve recalculated” the vote totals. But Raffensperger held firm, saying he believed in the official vote count, which showed Trump had lost in Georgia. This phone call is at the heart of the special purpose grand jury’s investigation and legal experts are divided on whether it shows Trump had criminal intent. And, somewhat surprisingly, it is not a matter that falls neatly along party lines – even some of Trump’s harshest critics say they don’t see a crime. Breakdown’s fourth episode also looks at the possible defenses the president could raise if an indictment is returned. No president or former president has ever been indicted. So if this happens the prosecution, the defense and the courts will be breaking new ground. “There are all kinds of hurdles the prosecution would have to overcome with prosecuting an ex-president,” Atlanta criminal defense attorney Don Samuel says on the podcast. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that ends up in the U.S. Supreme Court before it ever ends up in a courtroom.” You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast drops a special episode on Friday for Season 5: “The Tex McIver Case.” McIver, an Atlanta lawyer, was convicted of murder during a trial in Fulton County for killing his wife on Sept. 25, 2016. The killing happened when Tex and Diane McIver returned home to Atlanta from their 84-acre ranch in Putnam County. Diane McIver’s best friend, Dani Jo Carter, was driving the Ford Expedition. Diane McIver was sitting in the front passenger seat, her husband sitting behind her in the back seat. After they exited the downtown connector on Edgewood Avenue, Tex McIver asks for his .38-caliber handgun that’s in the center console. He later says he thought they had come upon a Black Lives Matter protest. They leave the area without incident and drive along Piedmont Avenue toward Buckhead, with McIver still holding the revolver in his lap. When they get to an intersection, McIver fires a bullet through the backseat. It hits his wife in the back and she later dies during surgery at Emory University Hospital. McIver tells police that it was a tragic accident, that the gun went off after he had fallen asleep and was suddenly awakened. But he is eventually indicted for murder and convicted of it during a 2018 trial. Returning to Breakdown’s fifth season, Episode 12 follows the McIver case through its appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court which issued its opinion on June 30. Just eight days before, the state high court had reversed another high-profile murder case against Justin Ross Harris who had left his 22-month-old son Cooper in his hot car to die. This time, the court overturns McIver’s conviction in another momentous decision. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Is there a criminal case to be brought against former President Donald Trump and his allies for what happened in Georgia following the 2020 presidential election? The third episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, explores that possibility. A Fulton County special purpose grand jury that is investigating the issue will ultimately recommend whether criminal charges should be brought. In a letter to top state officials, District Attorney Fani Willis listed a half dozen laws the former president and others may have broken. They are: solicitation of election fraud, giving false statements, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and making threats related to the administration of the state’s elections. In Breakdown’s third episode – “Is There A Criminal Case?” – legal experts discuss a number of incidents, including Trump’s Jan. 2, 2020, call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; his lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s testimony before state legislative committees; and the slate of fake electors who met in secret at the state Capitol the same day Democrats cast Georgia’s 16 Electoral College votes for Biden. As to whether Trump broke the law, it depends on who you ask. John Banzhaf, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University, doesn’t think it’s a close call. “Looking specifically at the Trump situation, when I read and then heard the actual tape recording of the conversation, it jumped out at me as being about as clear and specific and unambiguous evidence of a crime,” he said. But Atlanta lawyer Randy Evans, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Luxembourg, doesn’t see it that way. “If we narrow down to the particulars of what I understand the DA to be looking into, which is whether there’s any criminal or illegal conduct, I don’t even think it’s really close, to be fair,” he said. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This is the murder case against Justin Ross Harris, who left his 22-month-old son Cooper to die in a hot car on June 18, 2014. Harris, a Home Depot web developer, took Cooper that morning to Little Apron Academy, the in-house daycare center at work. They stopped at a Chick-fil-A for breakfast. But when they leave, Harris doesn’t make the turn to the daycare. Instead, he drives to work, parks his car and walks in to the office. Within hours, Cooper is dead of hypothermia. The intense publicity of the case went worldwide when it was disclosed at a preliminary hearing that Harris was sending sexually explicit texts to other women shortly before and after he left Cooper in the parking lot. It would be disclosed he was having extramarital affairs, sleeping with prostitutes and exchanging graphic texts with underage girls. Harris would be indicted for Cooper’s murder and other crimes. Because of intense pretrial publicity, the trial was moved from Cobb County to Glynn County in coastal Georgia. The jury in Brunswick would convict Harris of Cooper’s murder and he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Before and during the trial, Harris’ defense lawyers said what Harris did was a tragic mistake because he loved his son. They also tried to keep evidence of Harris’ deviant sexual behavior from being presented to the jury, arguing it was unfairly prejudicial. Prosecutors contended it showed Harris’ motive — to life a child-free life so he pursue sexual relations. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark sided with prosecutors and let it all in. The jury heard days of testimony about the affairs, the graphic texts and the prostitutes. This became a major thrust of Harris’ appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court in his bid for a new trial. The case was argued this past January and the court released its decision on June 22. Breakdown’s Episode 18 of “Death in a Hot Car; Mistake or Murder?” covers the court’s momentous ruling and the aftermath. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The second episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, focuses on the woman who is overseeing the investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis grew up in courtrooms, tagging along with her father, an attorney. When Willis became a prosecutor, she rose through the ranks at the Fulton DA’s Office prosecuting homicide and sexual assault cases. In 2014, Willis oversaw one of the most high-profile cases in state history: the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating scandal. Thirty-five educators were indicted under the state’s racketeering laws. Many pleaded guilty and of the 12 who went to trial, 11 were convicted. “I’m still not totally sure how she did it, but she did it,” said Atlanta lawyer John Floyd, a racketeering law expert who assisted Willis in the test-cheating trial. “She was a bit of a force of nature in the sense that she was completely committed to the case.” Episode 2 will also explain exactly how a special purpose grand jury operates and what it can and cannot do. It will also tell listeners how they will know if, after it adjourns, it is recommending criminal charges be brought. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer in the player above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was sitting in his kitchen on the afternoon of Jan. 2, 2021, when he received a phone call from the White House. President Donald Trump, his chief of staff and some of his lawyers were on the line. During the conversation, Trump told Raffensperger to “find” him 11,780 votes to overturn the election results. That was one more than the 11,779-vote margin that gave Georgia’s 16 electoral college votes to President Joe Biden and turned Georgia Democratic for the first time since 1992. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s award-winning Breakdown podcast returns for its ninth season — The Trump Grand Jury — to cover an investigation into that hourlong phone call as well as other events in Georgia that happened in the weeks following Election Day. Episode One explores what happened during the phone call between Trump and Raffensperger as well as another call made to Frances Watson, the Secretary of State’s lead elections investigator. Both conversations were recorded. The AJC’s legal affairs reporter, Bill Rankin, returns as the host of Season 9 of the Breakdown podcast. He is joined by senior reporter Tamar Hallerman, who covered the Trump White House when she was the newspaper’s Washington correspondent. You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer in the player above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The phone call from the White House came in at about 3 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2021. Then President Donald Trump, his chief of staff and his lawyers were on the line talking to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and members of his staff. During the recorded phone call, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” which would give him one more vote than he needed to flip the outcome of Georgia’s presidential election. On Monday, a special purpose grand jury will convene in Fulton County to investigate what transpired during this phone call and others the former president made to officials in Georgia in the weeks following the 2020 election. The extraordinary proceeding will be the focus of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s award-winning podcast “Breakdown”. Episodes of the podcast’s ninth season — The Trump Grand Jury — will be released in the coming weeks. It will be hosted by Bill Rankin, the AJC’s legal affairs reporter, and Tamar Hallerman, a senior reporter who covered the Trump administration when she was the AJC’s Washington correspondent. To make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe to “Breakdown” anywhere you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Sitcher For more information on this case and the other eight series of the podcast, go to ajcbreakdown.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In an emotional hearing, Judge Timothy Walmsley has the last word as he sentences Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan for killing Ahmaud Arbery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After 23 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction, Devonia Inman is finally free. Here are the improbable events that led to his release, and what Inman has to say about his experience. Plus, the new Cook County district attorney doesn't mince words about how the case went to trial two decades ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After about 10 hours of deliberation, the jury hearing the case against the three men charged with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery reached its verdict. The 18th episode of Season 8 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast covers the verdict’s outcome and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It isn’t often a defendant takes the witness stand with his life on the line. But Travis McMichael did just that last week. He might as well have had the life of his father, Greg McMichael, on the line, too. The 18th episode of the Eighth Season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast focuses on what happened inside the courtroom and outside of it as the trial for the McMichaels and William “Roddie” Bryan near an end. All three men are being tried for the alleged murder of Ahmaud Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution's Bill Rankin, Asia Burns and Shaddi Abusaid are in Brunswick to follow developments in the first full week in the trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's killing. The jury heard from the owner of the home under construction that Arbery visited before he was killed. And a defense lawyer makes a widely condemned statement regarding the Rev. Al Sharpton's presence at the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jury selection in the trial of three men accused in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery concluded amid controversy inside and outside the courtroom. Following that, the state and lawyers for Travis McMichael and his father Greg McMichael gave powerful opening statements. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores these developments and looks ahead in the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The second week of jury selection ended with the end in sight. It is expected that 64 Glynn County residents will be qualified into a pool from which 12 jurors and four alternates will soon be chosen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jury selection for the murder trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death is underway in Brunswick and many prospective jurors have expressed very strong opinions. Join host Bill Rankin as he unpacks the first week of jury selection and what it could mean for the upcoming trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The trial for the three men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery will begin Oct. 18, almost 20 months to the day after he was shot and killed. Join host Bill Rankin ahead of what is expected to be one of the most closely followed trials in Georgia history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A grand jury has indicted a former Glynn County district attorney, saying she violated her oath of office while responding to Ahmaud Arbery's death. Join host Bill Rankin as he takes a closer look at the indictment and explores the events of a pre-trial hearing in the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
During a hearing, the attorneys for the men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery formally asked a judge to allow evidence about the slain man's past before a jury. But that's not the only major update in the case. We have a federal hate crimes indictment, a change to Georgia's Citizen's Arrest Law, and a trial date. Join host Bill Rankin as he recounts the latest on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The lawyers for one of the three men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery are asking a judge to allow information about Arbery's past run-ins with the law to be entered into evidence. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores what this 404(b) could mean for the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join host Bill Rankin on the one-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery's death as he explores who the man was in life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Just moments after Travis McMichael killed Ahmaud Arbery with three shotgun blasts, one Glynn County police officer after another arrived at the bloody scene. The seventh episode of Season 8 of the AJC’s “Breakdown” podcast focuses on recently released bodycam footage taken by some of those officers. They are seen securing the scene and, most importantly, interviewing McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael were denied bond after a two-day hearing in Brunswick, Ga. Join host Bill Rankin as he recounts what happened at the hearing -- and explores what led the judge to deny bond for the two men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Prosecutors building a case against the three men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have passed several motions regarding what evidence can be submitted in court. Meanwhile, the contention that gunman Travis McMichael uttered a racial epithet while standing over Arbery's body remains the most explosive element of the case. However, jurors may never hear about it. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores how issues raised now could shape the outcome of a trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Since Ahmaud Arbery's death, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael have been condemned by many as racist vigilantes who targeted a Black man running down their street. Attorneys for the men claim that is far from true. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores the McMichaels' history prior to their fateful meeting with Ahmaud Arbery.
Nothing could be further from the truth, lawyers for both Travis and Greg McMichael recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
An attorney for one of the three men accused of chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery in February says the group's actions are legally justifiable by a law dating back all the way to the 1860s. Meanwhile, Georgia's legislature is considering repealing the law because of the case. Join host Bill Rankin as he examines what Georgia's citizen's arrest law says and how it may impact the Arbery murder case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Protests in Atlanta attract national attention as a preliminary hearing in Brunswick begins. During the probable cause hearing, there is only one witness: the lead investigator on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A tragic shooting has thrust coastal Georgia onto the national scene. On Feb. 23, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American man, was shot three times in a neighborhood near Brunswick, where he was confronted by two white men. The video of the shooting has now been seen by millions. In this special episode of Breakdown, hosts Bill Rankin and Greg Bluestein examine what is known about the case, and what’s to come. You’ll hear from officials down in Brunswick as well as former AJC managing editor, Bert Roughton, who lives in nearby St. Simons and has covered the case, as well as Brad Schrade, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who has investigated police shootings for the AJC and has also covered the Arbery shooting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this special episode of Breakdown, AJC reporter Joshua Sharpe decided to take a close look at a 35-year-old double murder case. An African-American couple was shot and killed inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Camden County, Ga. Dennis Perry was convicted of the killings and has been in prison for 20 years for them. What Sharpe found out is stunning. And we’re going to let him tell you about it, from beginning to end. In this episode, he reads his story, “The Imperfect Alibi: the forgotten suspect, the DNA and the church murders that haunted a detective.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chip Olsen's fate is now in the hands of the jury. Will the ex-cop end up behind bars? We take you through the murder trial's dramatic conclusion and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After a rocky start, prosecutors come out swinging in the murder trial of Chip Olsen. One of their star witnesses: Olsen's own police academy instructor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Testimony begins in the murder trial of Robert "Chip" Olsen and a trio of witnesses who saw Anthony Hill's final moments take the stand for the state. But do they help or hurt the prosecution's case? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A jury is seated and Chip Olsen's murder trial is finally underway. The ex-cop's defense lawyer said he fired at Anthony Hill because he was terrified as the naked man ran at him. But the prosecution offers a surprising new theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chip Olsen's legal team turns to a mock jury to road test their defense strategy. Jurors had a lot of questions and some strong opinions. And what will the lawyers be looking for when they select a real jury? This murder case could turn conventional wisdom on its head. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When Anthony Hill was killed by DeKalb County Police Officer Robert “Chip” Olsen in 2015 he became the latest casualty in a growing crisis: One in every four people shot and killed by police is suffering from mental illness. Why do police encounters with the mentally ill turn deadly so often? And would Hill be alive today if DeKalb had done more to train its officers? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Former Police Officer Chip Olsen takes the stand in a risky gamble to try to get the murder charges against him dismissed. Does it pay off? And his lawyers push a controversial defense used by cops to justify the use of force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Who is Chip Olsen? The cop who shot and killed Anthony Hill followed an unusual path to the force. We’ll tell you why it’s so rare to indict police officers who kill in the line of duty. And we’ll take you inside the surprising revelation that convinced the DeKalb DA to not only charge Olsen, but to charge him with murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On March 9, 2015, the manager of the Heights at Chamblee apartment complex called 911 to report that a man was wandering the grounds naked in the middle of the afternoon. Soon afterward, he was dead, shot and killed by the DeKalb County police officer who arrived at the scene. Who was Anthony Hill, the 26-year-old Afghanistan war veteran whose life ended that day? And how did he end up dead at the hands of police? We introduce you to Hill's life — his music and his family — as well his struggles with mental illness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Anthony Hill was a loving son, talented musician and an Afghanistan War veteran. In 2015, Hill was shot and killed by DeKalb County Police officer Chip Olsen, who was responding to a 911 call of a naked man wandering an apartment complex. Hill was unarmed and off of his medications. Olsen claims he acted in self-defense. In our new season of Breakdown, hosts Bill Rankin and Christian Boone tell the story of Hill's life and death, and will follow the trial of Officer Olsen, who is charged with murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The jury in the McIver murder case finally comes back -- after four days -- and delivers a confusing verdict that appears to say McIver intended to shoot his wife, Diane, but didn't intend to kill her. The closing arguments, four separate addresses by some of the best lawyers in Georgia, were every bit the spectacle that you'd imagine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The jury in the Tex McIver murder case gets the case and deliberates, and deliberates, and deliberates. One of the last things the jury asked for was permission to see, for a second time, the SUV in which Diane McIver was shot, AND they ask to take the .38 revolver with them to the car. So some of them sat where Tex sat and pulled the trigger that Tex pulled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The state rests after putting up more 70 witnesses. The defense case-in-chief takes only 2 1/2 days. The mysterious masseuse, Annie Anderson, takes the stand. And the executor for Diane McIver's estate has a surprise in store for the prosecution. Then the defense rests, and we're down to couple of rebuttal witnesses from the prosecution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The prosecution puts up the chief homicide investigator in the Tex McIver murder case and then tries its best to show how deficient the police investigation was. Normally, the district attorney and the police are on the same side. But not this time. The police charged McIver with involuntary manslaughter, but the DA went with malice murder -- convinced that the Atlanta Police Department was letting McIver off too easy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The prosecution in Tex McIver's murder trial completes its third week -- a sometimes grueling slog in which the state seemed to be throwing just about everything it can find at McIver. Some if it may not be provable, but none of it looks good. And that seems to be the point. If prosecutors can't prove McIver is a cold-blooded killer, can they sway the jury by suggesting that McIver is a man you can neither trust nor like? And, of course, Tex is helping the state build its case by doing the things he did after Diane McIver died. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The state calls Dani Jo Carter -- the only witness to the shooting of Diane McIver. She is on the stand for more than two full days. She tells the prosecution that Tex McIver asked her to lie about being in the SUV that night. But she tells the defense that she stands by her earlier statements to police that Tex was asleep before the gun went off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The state opens the Claud "Tex" McIver murder trial by detonating some new bombshells. McIver, the prosecution says, provided six different versions of what happened to his wife on the night she was shot. Or did he? Among the first prosecution witnesses was Emory University Hospital ER physician Suzanne Hardy, who treated Diane McIver the night she died. Yes, Hardy testified, Diane told her the shooting was an accident. And no, Hardy testified, Diane did not want to see her husband before she was intubated and rendered unable to speak. Diane McIver died shortly afterward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
One prospective juror after another is dismissed for cause because he or she believes Tex McIver intended to kill his wife. At the end of a long week of jury selection, the parties are finally able to qualify a pool of sufficient size that they can select 12 jurors and four alternates from it. But the defense must be troubled by the sheer number of people who had already made up their minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Both the prosecution and the defense have enormous challenges facing them as the trial begins. For the prosecutors, it's a question of motive. For the defense, it's the defendant himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A hard-charging prosecutor goes up against a famed duo of defense attorneys as Claud "Tex" McIver's murder trial begins in one week. Chief Assistant DA Clint Rucker can dominate the courtroom by sheer force of his personality. Bruce Harvey and Don Samuel have a long history of (successfully) defending high-profile clients, from NFL stars to rappers to strippers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After a long winter’s delay, the murder trial of The State v. Claud “Tex” McIver is to begin on March 5. Tex says his wife Diane’s death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says he intentionally shot her in the back. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bill Rankin returns to bring you Season 5 of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The jury in the double-murder case of Nicholas Benton could not hang the verdict on any single piece of evidence or testimony. That is, nothing that came up in court was so compelling that it enabled the jury to declare "guilty" or "not guilty." But what about something that came up outside of court? AJC Editor Kevin Riley wraps up his insider's account of being foreman on the jury in a murder trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The jury elects a foreman and begins its deliberations. The cellphone evidence is strong, but jurors are concerned about the lack of physical evidence: no murder weapon, no getaway car, no fingerprints, no DNA. And the state's star witness may or may not be believable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nicholas Benton's murder trial gets underway. The state puts on a formidable case -- albeit with some big holes in it -- and then rests. Here comes the defense, and the jury can't wait to hear what Nick Benton will say when he gets to the stand. Meanwhile, if you'd like to talk with us about this case, join the AJC Breakdown Facebook group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
First contact: An Atlanta homicide investigator goes to the home of the man who has emerged as his suspect. The man lives with his mother, and the detective winds up interviewing both. A year later, AJC Editor-in-Chief Kevin Riley gets his first indication that he will become deeply engaged in the outcome of this double homicide investigation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, goes deep inside a double-murder in Atlanta. With extraordinary access to key players in the case, Riley and longtime Breakdown host Bill Rankin explore the sudden and vicious killings of Reggie Coicou and Quincy "Fat" Wytche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Reginald "Reggie" Coicou was 24. Quincy "Fat" Wytche was 22. Both were killed in a sudden outburst of gunfire in the parking lot of an Atlanta Burger King in the spring of 2016. Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gives you an extraordinary inside view of this horrific double homicide, the investigation by the Atlanta police and the prosecution of the man accused of pulling the trigger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Neither the prosecution nor the defense is ready. The prosecution asks for a continuance, saying it would be unfair to proceed because the defense is unprepared. The defense calls the move "transparently disingenuous," saying it's really the prosecution that wants more time. Meanwhile, prosecutors get slammed for continuing to search for a motive long after they indicted Tex McIver for murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tex McIver couldn't get the new resident of the luxury condo complex out of his mind. She ignored all his entreaties to meet him, and he finally contrived to "bump into" her at the complex's gym early one morning. Diane was a powerful and successful businesswoman who eventually would marry Tex. But on a sultry September night a year ago, he killed her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Insisting it was an accident, Claud "Tex" McIVer will soon stand trial for the murder of his wife, Diane. Although Diane told ER surgeons it was an accident just before she died, the state has indicted Tex with malice murder. The year since Diane died has seen some extraordinary and often bizarre turns. This first episode of the new season of Breakdown will set the stage for the upcoming trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Coming soon: Season 5 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Breakdown podcast. This season, the AJC's Bill Rankin and Craig Schneider take you deep inside the case against Atlanta lawyer Tex McIver. He says his wife's death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says it was murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Before she was killed that night at the Taco Bell in Adel, Donna Brown was a hardworking restaurant manager. a beloved sister and a completely devoted mother. And if we are to seek justice for Devonia Inman, we must also seek it for Donna Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the hearing on Devonia Inman's "extraordinary motion" for a new trial, another giant piece of the case against Inman seems to crumble and fall away. Did Inman commit the murder of which he was convicted? Was he even there when it happened? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If Hercules Brown committed the murder of Taco Bell's night manager in 1998, then the authorities have put the wrong man, Devonia Inman, behind bars. But it gets worse than that. Much worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Did somebody else commit the murder of which Devonia Inman was convicted? He has always said so, Bill Rankin talks to witnesses who saw completely different things and zeroes in on a mask that police said was used in the crime. It wasn't a ski mask, says Rankin, it was an up-to-no-good mask. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The jury that hears the case against Devonia Inman must go through the peculiar process of becoming "death qualified." Meanwhile, some key witnesses take the stand and say they really didn't see what they told police they saw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A vicious murder on a hot South Georgia night outside the local Taco Bell. The police build an impressive case against young Devonia Inman. Now it's 20 years later, and a law professor in Atlanta is determined to take that case apart and win Inman's freedom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On July 17, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will launch Murder Below the Gnat Line, season four of our award-winning Breakdown podcast. Bill Rankin returns to explore a murder case with many unresolved questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A judge in Georgia signs off on a plea deal for Dr. Narendra K. Gupta, who admits to three counts of sexual battery against patients. No jail time, but he agrees to leave the country, surrender his license and never practice medicine again. Well, two out of three . . . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In late 2011, Dr. Narendra K. Gupta stood before a Fulton County judge and pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. The conditions of his sentence were unusual: He didn’t have to go to jail. He did have to leave the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
An Ohio doctor has left his practice in the small city of Lima and moved to Atlanta. Also left behind in Ohio: the lawsuits and complaints that piled up against him, many of which were related to sexual abuse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why would a doctor jeopardize his career by subjecting patients, nurses, even office staff, to repeated sexual abuse? In many cases, the physician doesn’t recognize boundaries because he doesn’t believe they apply to him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dr. Narendra K. Gupta had a history of allegations of attacking and harassing nurses. Instead of reporting him to police, the medical community shielded him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Breakdown: Predator, M.D., follows the fortunes of Dr. Gupta and many of the 18 women who claim the doctor abused them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Justin Ross Harris returns to Cobb County and is sentenced for the murder of his 22-month-old son Cooper. We delve into the contradictions in the jury's verdict. We also hear from some Breakdown listeners who seem to know as much about the case as anyone -- and have completely divergent views on the outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After four days of deliberations, the jury in Brunswick returns with a verdict in The State of Georgia v. Justin Ross Harris. Cobb County's district attorney says this is no time for a celebration. Harris's lawyers, in an emotional interview, say they are stunned by the outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The prosecution and the defense give impassioned, powerful closing arguments, wrapping up the trial. Prosecutor Chuck Boring insists Ross Harris lived a double life and intentionally killed his little boy. Defense attorney Maddox Kilgore contends Cooper’s death was a horrible accident and that police rushed to judgment without looking at evidence contrary to their theory. The six-man, six-woman jury then gets the case and, over the next three days, sends a number of questions to Judge Mary Staley Clark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ross Harris’ ex-wife, Leanna Taylor, took the witness stand on Monday and repeated her long-held belief that Harris never meant to leave their 22-month-old son Cooper to die in his overheated SUV. Taylor spent an emotional two days on the stand, ending her testimony with a dramatic flourish. Some of Harris’ relatives and closest friends then followed her and testified Harris loved his little boy. But in the end, Harris chose not to testify in his own defense, and both the defense and the state rest their cases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lead Detective Phil Stoddard ended his testimony after four days on the witness stand. Under cross-examination, Stoddard took some punches, but also delivered some blows. On Friday, the state rested its case after calling 51 witnesses to the stand over the course of 16 days of testimony. They presented no eyewitnesses, no DNA on a murder weapon, no irrefutable video. Instead, prosecutors put into evidence a mountain of circumstantial evidence and a pile of filth – being Harris’ deviant sex life. The defense then started presenting its case, trying to show the jury that Ross Harris was thinking of a life with his son Cooper long after the day he was left in his father’s SUV to die. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Prosecutors open a new week of testimony by calling one woman after another to the witness stand. Harris pursued all of them – including two teenagers – over sexually explicit online chats. Finally, lead detective Phil Stoddard takes the stand and prosecutors play the detective’s interview of Harris at the police station the day of Cooper’s death. They also play the recording of Harris’ emotionally charged meeting with his wife when she comes to see him at police headquarters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The judge, lawyers and jurors return to Brunswick after Hurricane Matthew. The trial starts back up with the initial focus on little Cooper Harris. Prosecutors introduce testimony about the “smell of death,” and the jury hears from a hooker who said she had sex with Harris weeks before Cooper’s death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The murder trial against Justin Ross Harris is finally underway. The prosecution opened with a blistering opening statement, while Harris’ defense attorney countered with an emotional and powerful opening of his own. After that, the first prosecution witnesses took the stand, and some of them gave testimony prosecutors wanted to hear, while some of them said things the defense wanted to hear. Then, three days into the trial, Hurricane Matthew started its destructive path through Florida and toward Georgia. That meant the trial of stops and starts stopped once again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re just a few steps from the starting gate. In a matter of days, the 12 jurors will be seated, the lawyers will make their opening statements, and the murder trial of Justin Ross Harris will begin. Will he testify? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jury selection isn’t fast, but it is fascinating. Prospective jurors in the Harris case speak of magical powers, preconceived notions and their favorite TV shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Ross Harris trial heads to Brunswick after a four-month hiatus. What sort of jury will Judge Mary Staley Clark find on Georgia’s coast? Here’s why the trial’s new venue could be called a prosecutor’s dream. To learn more about this case, visit AJCBreakdown.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Justin Chapman awaits the all-important decision from the state's prosecutors: will they put him back on trial for murder and arson or end the long-running legal drama that put him in state prison for eight years? This concluding episode has all the answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Harris trial was just days away from opening statements and testimony, when the proceedings ground to a sudden and unexpected halt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The defense in the hot-car murder trial of Justin Ross Harris surprises everyone by filing for a change of venue almost at the of jury selection. But the judge has her own surprise: she grants it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jury selection, which may be close to conclusion, has taken an interesting turn. Nearly a third of the jurors qualified for the final panel – the one from which the 12 jurors and a number of alternates will be chosen – say they believe Justin Ross Harris is guilty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The most important moments of the Justin Ross Harris trial may be unfolding right now - even before testimony begins or the lawyers ever state their cases. Welcome to jury selection, where cases are often won or lost. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cobb police insinuated a number of times that Leanna (now Leanna Taylor, since her divorce came through in March) might have helped her husband plan the murder of their son. But those claims faded and then all but disappeared. Taylor was never charged with any crime and is expected to be a witness for the defense in Ross Harris’s murder trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The state’s murder case against Harris is formidable. The lead police investigator has already testified at length in pretrial hearings: some key testimony seems utterly damning, but some seems totally wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The evidence against Justin Ross Harris, accused of murder in the hot-car death of his son, and how it just seems to keep piling up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A state prosecutor is now deciding whether to put Justin Chapman back on trial for murder. His first trial ended in a guilty verdict after the jury deliberated about 40 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The case goes back to the Georgia Supreme Court – and this time there would be a much different outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Justin Chapman tells his side of the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Justin Chapman’s new defense team sifts through the evidence and uncovers critical breakdowns in the prosecution of Chapman, including several pieces of evidence that Chapman's public defender Jan Hankins says she never received, and the testimony of witnesses that Hankins never had time to visit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Justin Chapman murder case attracts a new defense team full of heavy hitters and colorful characters. In this episode, we take a detour from the case in order to introduce you to some of the players who came to Chapman's aid, and learn why they took on the case for free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bill Rankin goes to Bremen in the dark of night, and with the help of an Army veteran, tests what you can see from "Stroupe's stoop." Could Gary Allen Stroupe have seen Justin Chapman from his front porch? Plus, Chapman experiences the appeal from hell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meet Jan Hankins, the public defender who lost Justin Chapman’s case and embarked on a personal crusade to free him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Follow the twists and turns of a case in rural Georgia that some say landed an innocent man in prison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices