Less than a month after he appointed himself to prosecute the matter, Special Counsel Peter Skandalakis dropped the case.
The executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia said in a motion filed in the Fulton County Superior Court that he believes declining to prosecute the case any further would best “serve the interests of justice and promote judicial finality” in the case.
Trump celebrated the development on social media. “The few remaining Democrat Witch Hunts will soon meet the same embarrassing end. We are going to keep winning, and continue to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump posted.
“The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over. This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare,” said Steve Sadow, a lawyer for Trump, in a statement.
Skandalakis, in his motion, didn’t downplay the seriousness of some of the allegations in the case. If proven, he said, they would establish a conspiracy “to overturn the results of the November 2020 Presidential Election in Georgia, and in other states across the country.” But he said there is “no realistic prospect” that a sitting president would be compelled to stand trial in Georgia, meaning any case against Trump couldn’t be revamped until at least 2029 – about eight years after the underlying alleged actions took place.
Skandalakis added that he thought the strongest case against those who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election was the federal case that was brought by former special counsel Jack Smith against Trump. He said the criminal conduct alleged in the Georgia case was “conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia.” Smith dropped the federal case after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
“In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years,” Skandalakis concluded.
Prosecutorial Discretion Dismissals
We realized there’s a lot of Legalese in this subheading. So, let’s break it down. Prosecutorial discretion simply means that, usually due to a lack of evidence or a lack of interest, prosecutors choose not to pursue the matter.
The difference is subtle yet significant. Lack-of-evidence dismissals set the stage for a successful record restriction action. This outcome is more uncertain in the other two cases.
Lack of Evidence Dismissals
Typically, a lack of evidence is an overall lack of probable cause or a complete lack of evidence on one element of the offense.
Lack of probable cause dismissals are somewhat rare. These actions normally include miscarriage of justice errors. For example, in 2019, a deputy sheriff charged a Georgia college quarterback with possession of cocaine. Laboratory tests proved that “cocaine” was bird poop. Prosecutors dropped the case and the deputy sheriff resigned.
Most criminal offenses have more than one element. The D (driving) in a DUI collision matter is a good illustration. Frequently, unless the defendant admitted s/he was driving the car and that statement is admissible (more on that below), the state cannot prove the defendant was driving the vehicle. Since the defendant is not guilty as a matter of law, prosecutors often don’t pursue the matter.
On a related note, only prosecutors have the power to drop cases. Alleged victims, such as alleged assault victims, don’t have this power. These individuals are only witnesses. If an alleged victim wants to drop a case and refuses to cooperate with prosecutors, they can subpoena the alleged victim and force him/her to testify.
Lack of Interest Dismissals
The arrest rate in Georgia has increased significantly since 2020. Criminal courts haven’t expanded to keep pace with this increase. Therefore, prosecutors are busier than ever.
As a result, they often dismiss borderline cases. Let’s go back to the domestic battery example. If an alleged victim refuses to cooperate, as mentioned, prosecutors may continue to pursue the matter. But subpoenaing a witness is a big chore that many prosecutors would like to avoid. Furthermore, they often reason that if the alleged victim doesn’t care about the case, they shouldn’t care about it either.
A Marietta criminal defense lawyer can still restrict the record and effectively clean this stain off the defendant’s criminal record. However, the process is more complex, since prosecutors voluntarily dropped the case.
Judge-Ordered Dismissals
Technically, prosecutors don’t have the power to unilaterally dismiss cases. The judge always has the last word in these matters. The judge could also direct prosecutors to drop a case or, much more commonly, exclude evidence and force prosecutors to dismiss a case.
Frequently, judges exclude illegally obtained evidence during suppression hearings. The aforementioned D statement is a good example. The Fifth Amendment applies to all statements made during custodial interrogation. If officers didn’t inform the defendant of his/her Miranda rights prior to asking questions, any statement the defendant makes is usually inadmissible. A “statement” includes nonverbal conduct, such as a lineup identification.
We should also mention Fourth Amendment violations. Judges must exclude drugs and other physical evidence unless officers had a valid search warrant or a narrow search warrant exception, like owner consent, applied.
Pretrial Diversion
A strings-attached PTI (Pretrial Intervention) action may be the most common kind of pretrial dismissal.
Pretrial diversion programs vary in different counties, and even in different courts in the same county. PTI dismissals are especially common in nonviolent cases, such as drug possession cases.
Normally, designated drug courts handle drug possession matters. These courts often view simple possession, especially if the defendant has no criminal record, as a health and safety issue. Therefore, if the defendant undergoes drug treatment, prosecutors often dismiss the case.
Other PTI program requirements often include paying restitution, performing community service, staying out of trouble with the law, and attending self-improvement classes, such as anger management. Most program participants have about six months to complete these requirements, at which time prosecutors dismiss the case and court supervision ends.
In many cases, for a Marietta criminal defense lawyer, a PTI dismissal is better than a not-guilty trial verdict. PTI dismissals are often sure things, whereas trial outcomes are always uncertain.
You don’t have to be president to get your case dismissed in Cobb County. For a free consultation with an experienced Marietta criminal defense attorney, contact The Phillips Law Firm, LLC. Virtual, home, and after-hours visits are available.
