It’s the latest twist to a strange courtroom drama involving a formerly married couple convicted of scamming the DeKalb County School District. Pat Reid and Tony Pope are headed back to court this afternoon.
Reid, once the school system’s chief of construction projects, and Pope, an architect and her former husband, were convicted a year ago of racketeering. Reid was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Pope was sentenced to eight years, after former School Superintendent Crawford Lewis testified against them in return for a year’s probation. But after Judge Cynthia Becker sentenced Reid and Pope to prison, she said Lewis lied on the stand and rather than granting him probation, as was the deal to which he agreed, she ordered Lewis to serve a year behind bars.
Becker then overturned Reid and Pope’s conviction and ordered new trials for them. That ruling was overruled by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which found that Becker didn’t have jurisdiction. And rather than releasing Reid and Pope, the Appeals Court ordered them to undergo a new hearing, which takes place at 1:30 this afternoon.
“It’s called an appeals bond,” explained WSB legal analyst Philip Holloway. “Since their appeal has not been finalized, their conviction isn’t final either. So the Appeals Court ruled they’re entitled to a hearing establishing reasonable bond.”
The amount of that bond could vary, said Holloway. Reid and Pope may still be stuck in prison if they can’t afford it. The hearing takes place in the courtroom of Judge Gregory Adams because Becker has now rescued herself from the case.